


BotW Zelink Oneshots

by quillandink333



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Consentual Underage Sex, Death, Drabble, Drabble Collection, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Smut, Unprotected Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:41:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 36,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quillandink333/pseuds/quillandink333
Summary: I started this series as a casual collection of little imagines I come up with. They can each be read individually and you’ll understand most of what’s going on. I also post each work in chronological order.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 110





	1. A Moment of Mutuality (T)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After rescuing her from a group of Yiga clansmen, Link lets his feelings for the princess get the better of him.

Despite boasting torrid temperatures during the day that made it seem as though one’s skin could start to peel off at the slightest touch, I spent most nights in the Gerudo Desert huddling for warmth under what few layers of blanket the local hotel had to offer. But that night, there was something else keeping me awake aside from the chill in the air.

“Ever since she was a young girl, she’s gone through rigorous daily routines to show her dedication. She once passed out in the freezing waters trying to access this sealing power.” I couldn’t get much rest after hearing about this earlier that night from Lady Urbosa. I’d been a fool not to have put together the reason for the princess’ resentment towards me sooner. But that was the least of my worries. Whether she enjoyed my company or not was of a far smaller priority than her safety. And so it was heartbreaking to learn that she’d been tormenting herself like this all along without my knowledge. After hearing what the Gerudo chieftain had to tell me, my intentions to guard her with my life became more inflamed than ever.

~ • ~

The princess and I were on our way back to the castle after she’d taken care of her business with Lady Urbosa in Gerudo Town. We had set up camp for the night in a somewhat compact hole in the wall of the canyon. “Link...” the princess murmured, not turning her gaze from the campfire. “What you did back there... I honestly have no words for it.” Earlier that afternoon, as we had departed from Kara Kara Bazaar, a trio of Yiga Clan assassins had surrounded the princess. The damned amateur that I was, I’d just so happened to pick that very moment to turn my attention away from her. I feared for what would have happened if I hadn’t heard her terrified cry for help in time. “You saved my life...“

“It was my duty,” I said simply, reassuring her with a small upturn of the lips.

“Yes. Yes, of course,” she replied as though she’d forgotten my purpose. Gesturing for her to lift her sprained ankle—I’d carried her on my back for several hours until we’d found shelter—I placed a relatively smooth piece of sandstone beneath her calf so that she would have a way of elevating her injured foot off the ground. “Thank you.”

I nodded, finding some cool safflina in my bag that I’d foraged earlier and wrapping it around her ankle. “Is there anything else I can do for you, Your Highness?”

“No, that’s quite alright.” She watched closely as I tended to her wound, putting great care into the way I treated her and hoping my calloused hands weren’t too rough. Usually when the princess looked at me, it was with an unmistakable chagrin in her stare. But now, I felt the warm rays of admiration shining down on me. It filled my chest with pride and confidence, feelings which I hadn’t allowed myself to feel in quite some time.

I looked up at her when I was finished. She instinctively glanced down at her lap but looked back at me again a few short moments after. In a moment of forbidden closeness, my heart was bouncing off the walls of my ribcage, and yet I couldn’t bring myself to look away and bow my head. She didn’t seem to mind my blatant disrespect, however. I noticed I’d left my hand resting on her bare knee when she tentatively placed her own hand atop mine. Her tiny, maidenly hand then glided up the length of my arm and perched itself on my shoulder. Still feeling a bit bold from earlier, I let my hand wander from her leg to her waist, never breaking eye contact. She continued to gaze back at me through half-lidded eyes, without speaking a word. Her lips were parted. I tested the waters by slowly leaning in towards her, angling my head slightly. She responded by letting her eyes flutter closed. Unable to restrain myself any longer, I closed the gap.

Before I had the chance to even begin moving my lips against hers, she beat me to it, leaning in toward me even further. It took me by surprise. I stayed frozen for a few seconds until she pulled me closer with both arms around my neck. A bubbling sigh flowed past her lips and into my mouth. I cracked my eyes open, and instantly shut them again. My ears burned at the sight of her completely lost in this lust-drunken daze or whatever it was that had come over us both. The small cavern grew hot. I felt my body starting to overheat with the added effect of the roaring flames beside us. Taking hold of the hem of my tunic, I was about to toss it over my head and discard it off to the side somewhere. But before I could, my good sense came rushing back to me like a wild boar. I jerked away from her.

“Link...?”

“You should get some rest,” I said firmly. “I’ll keep watch.”

She stared at me a moment, appearing as if in some sort of state of hypnosis. Then, keeping her lips parted, she said, “Alright.”

Even if for some reason I’d decided not to stay up and keep watch, I was certain I wouldn’t have gotten any sleep that night. My heart continued at its quickened pace. 


	2. The Quest for Acquaintance (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda struggles with her task of getting Link to open up to her while also being reluctant to apologize for being harsh on him in the beginning.

It had been a few weeks since I’d spoken with Impa about my plight with Link, and I still hadn’t gotten myself to apologize to him as she had so wisely advised. However, I’d made it a point to show him my true self without holding anything back just for the sake of formalities. In fact, I may have mistakenly gone a bit overboard in that area. Thanks to an eccentric outburst on one certain occasion, he‘d probably felt more uncomfortable than he would have if I’d just stayed silent.

“Go on! Taste it!” I said, shoving the poor creature into my offenseless knight’s face like a madwoman. The moment he shrank back in discomfort was when I realized what I was doing. “Ah... I’m sorry. Here.” I put the frog back down in a shady spot next to some flowers. Link had his back turned, disallowing me from getting a glimpse of his face, though the red tinge on the tips of his ears was clear as day.

~ • ~

“I doubt this will let up any time soon.”

Link and I had been on our way to the Spring of Courage when a storm had hit, forcing us to seek shelter under a tree overlooking the nearby Deya Village.

“Your path seems to mirror your father’s. You’ve dedicated yourself to becoming a knight as well.” I watched as he skillfully sliced the air with his blade, focused solely on his practice. “Your commitment to the training necessary to fulfill your goal is really quite admirable.” He let out a decisive exhale, the imaginary enemy before him falling to its knees. “I see now why you would be the chosen one,” I smiled. “What if...one day...you realized that you just weren’t meant to be a fighter?” He lowered his weapon and turned to face me, attentiveness in his gaze. “Yet the only thing people ever said was that you were born into a family of the royal guard, and so no matter what you thought, you had to become a knight.” It would’ve surprised me if he hadn’t figured out already what I meant by all this. “If that was the only thing you were ever told...I wonder then...would you have chosen a different path?” Though I was just projecting onto him at this point, I truly did wonder such things about him.

Once again, however, I’d gotten my hopes up when he’d turned to listen to me. As always, not a single hint of emotion besmirched his perfect face. He simply turned the other way and continued swinging that wretched sword of his.

“Why don’t you ever say anything?” I stood up, having reached the end of my patience. “I’ve now done everything I can think of to bear my soul to you. And still you always remain silent.” True to my accusation, he refused to even turn and face me. “Link, I just want to know what you’re so afraid of. Tell me!” The air fell silent, and I was just about ready to give up.

“To be honest...” he finally spoke, prompting me to raise my head, “this isn’t a path I chose for myself either, Your Highness.” Slowly, he turned toward me, blade in hand. “I never wanted to have the fate of the world placed in my hands. I didn’t ask for that kind of responsibility, that kind of pressure.” His brows were furrowed and his grip on his sword handle had grown tighter. Then he took in a full breath of air and let it out in a nasal sigh, saying, “But I continue to press on each day because I’ve...accepted that I’m the only one—the only person alive—who’s capable of playing the role I’ve been given.”

My heart sank. Suddenly I felt terrible. This whole time, I’d been whining and complaining to him about being barred from following the path of my choosing, but behind his mask, he’d been struggling with the same thing all the while.

“You ask why I refrain from opening up to others, Princess.” He looked at me with eyes like ice, hair plastered to his forehead with water from the pouring rain. “Will that answer suffice?”

“I...I’m so sorry.” I stepped back and shrank into my seat, unable to meet his pained gaze for a moment longer. I buried my face in my open palms, defeated. “I can’t believe I’ve been so conceited for so long...” I shook my head. “How...how could I...?”

The last thing I expected then was for him, the victim, to make an attempt to console me, the offender. And yet, the next thing I knew, he was kneeling down before me and putting a hand on my lap. “Princess, please,” he uttered, causing me to look up from my sulking, “don’t apologize.” He took one of my hands between his own. “You haven’t done anything wrong, and you have every right to be upset with me. I should’ve said something sooner. I wanted to. I just...never knew what to say. To someone like you.” His voice trailed off with his last sentence, his gaze directed at my feet. But then he fell back into his apathetic, emotionless facade. “As such, it is I who must ask for your forgiveness for failing to grant your wish, Your H—“ I cut him off by falling to my knees and throwing my arms around him, “Highness...”

Part of me wanted to cry, but I didn’t. Instead, I gathered as much of his frigid, rain-soaked body as I could against my own, feeling the cold dampness of his clothes seep through to my skin. If I’d had his strength, his ribs would have been crushed in an instant. “I forgive you,” I asserted. “A thousand times over...I forgive you.” I felt him thaw bit by bit in my arms. A long, shivering sigh like ripples in a pond left his lips as he gradually came to return my embrace.

After a while, there came a soft croaking sound loud enough to be heard over the rain. I opened my eyes and smiled at the sight of a little, green amphibian looking up at me. 


	3. Decorum’s Abandonment (E)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although hesitant at first, Link indulges Zelda in a scandalous request as a way for the both of them to relieve some of their pent-up stress.

It was an ordinary night after an ordinary day; I’d been asleep in my private quarters at the castle around the time the moon was at its peek when I awoke, disquiet stirring in my chest. It was a feeling telling me that something was out of place or not the way it should’ve been. The first thing that came to mind was the princess. The very thought of something happening to her gave me a jolt of anxiety that pulverized any remaining drowsiness in an instant. With haste, I got dressed, dawned my weapon, and made my way to her bedroom, only to discover that it was empty, just as I had suspected.

Without letting another moment escape my grasp, I roused my steed and rode past the castle gates. My instincts told me that she had gone far beyond the boundaries of the town. Epona and I raced across the outskirts of Hyrule Field in search of her. I could tell she too had sensed her disappearance as she tended to be more skittish and alert whenever the princess wasn’t around.

I searched for hours, riding for miles and miles without rest, slaying every beast that stood in my way. I scoured the field, crossed Hylia River to the east, then crossed back onto the field again. After giving it another once-over, I headed northwest across Carok Bridge, through the Breach of Demise, across Jedo Bridge, and past Sanidin Park. Finally I found her, on a small plateau just west of Dalite Forest. The air about the place was quiet and tranquil. The light of the fireflies sparkled on the surface of the shallow pond, and the only sounds that could be heard were the wind in the trees and the chittering of crickets. She was sitting atop a small protrusion of land, under the limbs of the tallest tree. When I spotted her, my heart pulsed in relief and I regained my ability to breathe.

But when she sensed my approach and looked up at me, she donned an unreadable expression. “Oh, it’s you,” she murmured almost inaudibly. “I should’ve known you’d come looking for me.” I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed to see my face or relieved that it wasn’t some other knight who’d come to drag her back to the castle. Either way, I didn’t intend to do so. I wanted to know first why she had come here, in the middle of the night.

“Your Highness, why are you out here?” If she weren’t royalty, I would’ve scolded her for going off on her own and putting her life in danger like this.

She gave a weighted sigh, her shoulders rising and falling like lead. “It’s my father.” Earlier that day, the princess had been overseeing an experiment having to do with the research of ancient Sheikah technology, something anyone could see she was passionate about. Just as her session had been drawing to a close, her father, the king, had appeared. He’d reprimanded her for neglecting her training as the wielder of the Goddess’s divine power. My heart had broken for her as I’d listened to him belittle her and her efforts. “You heard what he said, didn’t you? That I‘m ‘the heir to a throne of nothing but failure’.” She sat curled up in a fetal position, her head hung. She looked as though she could start crying at any moment, and yet her voice remained monotonous. “Link…what do you think of me?”

Her inquiry had me taken aback. I loved her. But I couldn’t just blurt that out to her. Now was not the time. There had to be something else I could say that wouldn’t be as shocking to hear. “I think you’re an amazing person, Your Highness.” She looked up at me from her lap. “You’re dedicated to what you love, and you’re always doing everything you can to help others.”

Now when she looked up at me, her eyes shimmered. She smiled weakly, looking back down toward her knees. A single set of tears rolled down both her cheeks, leaving wet streaks that glistened in the moonlight. Then she murmured, barely above a whisper, “Thank you.”

I wasn’t quite sure what the most appropriate thing for me to do was at this point. I had the instinct to put my arms around her, but that would’ve been absolutely too overly familiar of me. So instead, I simply took a seat next to her against the trunk of the tree. A pregnant silence hung in the air until it was replaced by her voice.

“I just wish he would make the effort to better understand what I’m going through.” I nodded, wanting to assure her that she had my full attention. “It’s just not fair, you know? Ever since my mother died, he’s treated me like I’m nothing more than cannon fodder. I know it’s my duty to devote myself to prayer, but…he just keeps reminding me like I haven’t been doing this day after day for my entire life.” She stared angrily at the grass in front of her like a Sheikah guardian shooting deadly beams of light from her eyes. I averted my own out of fear. Then she shook her head with a cleansing sigh. “Oh, just listen to me going on and on about my problems,” she simpered. “I’m sorry. I know you’re under quite a bit of pressure as well.”

What she said was true. Ever since the moment I’d drawn the blade of evil’s bane from its resting place, I’d felt the weight of all its past wielders resting on my shoulders. I felt it even now, as I glanced at the Temple of Time off in the distance.

“Link…” I noticed a prominent shift in her tone when she addressed me, her voice floating wispily in the air. I turned to face her. “Might I ask a favour of you?”

Before I could even nod my reply, I was paralyzed by her hand which she had placed casually on my knee. “Yes, Your Highness?” I managed as she moved it along my thigh, coming dangerously close to my crotch. A breath caught in my throat. She sat beside me with her shoulders rolled back and her hips pointed out, tilting her head just so.

“Well, I suppose it’s less of a favour and more of a proposition, really.” Once again, she had my cheeks burning and my heart pounding away as I remembered the time we shared in Gerudo Valley vividly. “I just thought, since we’ve both been under so much stress lately, that you and I might be able to find a way of relieving some of it. You know?”

I wanted to remind her of the dangers she was putting us in, that the implied kinds of interactions between a princess and her knight were strictly forbidden. At the same time, however, I couldn’t deny the effect she had on me. The way her slim fingers played temptingly with the buckles of my sword harness, and how she looked at me with the same eyes she had that night, sent a rush of desire through me that manifested itself between my legs.

I hadn’t been paying attention when she suddenly pressed her lips into my own like I was a fountain and she was dying of thirst. Her body fell flat against mine, and I let my arms drape around her waist. It was a shockingly natural action, not awkward in the slightest. Our lips moved in tandem with one and other as her fingers combed through my hair, freeing it from its confinement and allowing it to splay out across the back of my neck. Now she was sitting on my lap. Her smooth, wet tongue found its way into my mouth, making contact and melding together with mine. I released a groan. I was left disappointed for a moment when the feeling of her soft lips and tongue disappeared only for it to reappear on my neck. A shock wave swept through my entire body, and I somehow became even harder than I already was. The tip of her tongue came out and began tracing patterns into the skin just below my ear. “Princess,” I gasped, tensing up when she ground down on my clothed erection without warning. “We sh-shouldn’t—“

“Who’s going to see us? The fireflies?” she pointed out, hardly moving away from her place on my neck. Her breath felt cold where her mouth had just been. I shivered. “Please, Link. Just this once.”

Seeing as she had obviously made up her mind already, I realized what little choice I had. With a composed sigh, I smiled, doing away with the leather straps that held the heavy sword on my back. “As you wish, Your Highness.”

Once these words had left my lips, however, I lost the ability to think properly. This wasn’t just any old skeezer whom one could typically find at the local tavern with hoards of men, all intoxicated, nipping at her ankles. This was the princess of Hyrule, the holy reincarnation of the Goddess Hylia Herself, asking me to be intimate with her. Just where was one supposed to begin?

She let her belt and sash drop to her hips before casting them off to the side. I started to feel panic creeping in beneath my skin. My breaths became tighter, shallower. Apparently I was doing a poor job of concealing my nerves because the princess seemed to notice. She took my hands and guided them to the hem of her over-shirt which rested just below the sacrosanct hills of her chest. With unshakable hesitance, I hooked my fingers beneath it, and she raised her arms over her head, allowing me to lift and remove the garment from her poised figure. This left her blouse, which clung tightly to her frame and did little to hide the contours of her feminine physique. I looked away in shame.

“Link, what are you doing? My face is up here, you know,” she teased. Her smile was infectious, and her little laugh somehow made all my unease melt away. I leaned in to kiss her, and she let out a swoon of delight, parting her lips and allowing me to feel every inch of her mouth. Letting go of my remaining apprehension, I unfastened the button on her collar as she removed her gloves with both her arms slung around my shoulders. By the time we parted, she’d also managed to get her boots off at some point without my noticing. Not wasting another second, I lifted the thin blouse over her head.

I needed a moment to take her in. Her breasts were neither too small nor too large, both tapering to a perked, blushing point. Her milky, white skin was deliciously warm to the touch as I held one of them in my (now bare) hand, caught in a trance. Finding myself starving for a taste, I took the other of her two little rose buds between my lips.

“Link!” the princess mewled. Her fingernails grazed my scalp as she gripped my hair firmly. Shortened breaths continued to emerge from her barely spread lips as I supported her back with my free arm, drinking in her reactions. I flicked the tip of my tongue out against one of the tight bundles of nerves embellishing her breasts. At this, she let out a euphoric whine like nothing that had ever graced my ears before. I had to hear that heavenly sound again, so I continued. Her grip on my head became even more intense as I went on without remorse. “Link… Oh, Goddess, don’t stop,” she whimpered, wantonly grinding into my lap. A garbled groan escaped my open mouth, still attached to her tit. My own breathing was also beginning to spiral out of control now.

I stilled her hips by slipping a hand past the waist of her leggings, and she responded by stripping them away entirely, along with any undergarments she might have been wearing as well. Once they’d been dealt with, she continued grinding her hips like an animal in heat, creating friction against my rock-hard cock that sent me into a world of bliss. “Princess—!” I grunted, feeling lightheaded just from sheer arousal. “Y-you’re driving me insane…” Words truly could not describe her divine beauty. The sheen of moonlight reflecting off her body resembled the fur coat of a rabbit spirit, and her hair poured down along the curves of her flawless form like a golden waterfall. I’d never felt more in love with her than I did in that moment.

Soon I started to feel a warm dampness between my legs where her exposed sex was making contact with the fabric of my trousers. By now, my need for release had swirled inside me for so long that I couldn’t contain it for a second longer. The buckle of my belt jangled as I fumbled to unfasten it with desperate fingers. The cool night air surrounded my length when I’d finally managed to free it from its constrictive prison. I noticed the princess’ eyes lock onto it the moment I took it out. She swallowed hard.

The hesitant look in her eyes had me concerned for her. Then a worrisome thought came to me. “Is this your first time, Highness?” She nodded. Of course she had to be a virgin. She was the princess and she wasn’t even of marriageable age yet.

“I’ll be okay though,” she smiled. “I’ll just go slow to start with.” Her smile broke into a surprised gasp, however, when I slipped a couple of my fingers between her thighs.

“Still, why don’t I help you get a bit more adjusted first?” I used the tips of my fingers to spread her slick, buttery nectar all around her soft lips. She hummed breathily in anticipation, her voice like velvet. I traced the rim of her copiously lubricated slit with the tip of my middle finger before extending it in just beyond the barrier, just enough for me to feel her supple, warm walls starting to envelope it. I watched her face as I did so, paying deathly close attention to the way it shifted and contorted, eyes half-lidded and mouth agape. Taking one of her tits back into my mouth, I managed to draw out a vocal gasp from the depths of her throat. I continued bringing her pleasure with my tongue as I began the hopefully painless process of stretching her out.

She winced softly when I added a second digit, giving my hair a slight tug. “Ahh! Link…” I looked up when she addressed me, my fingers halting where they were inside her. “Wait, don’t stop,” she stammered. “It just hurt a little bit. I’m fine though.” I nodded, resuming my careful ministrations. This time, I started to ease one of my fingers deeper inside her, which received a much better reaction from her end. Her faint gasps started to evolve into increasingly high-pitched pants as I quickened my pace gradually, drawing circles around the narrow circumference of her tight walls. With caution, I put my ring finger back into the mix, and what I got in response was a feeble whimper that only briefly interrupted her continuous croons of delight.

After a while of this, I offered to let her lie against the tree to help take away some of the discomfort, to which she complied. Here I sat on my knees with her bare legs spread out on either side of me. As I hovered over her, she looked at me with naught but desire swimming in her eyes, which I caught wandering down towards my nether regions now and then. The air weighed heavy with anticipation. The only sounds I could hear were of her beating heart and her bated breath. The scent of her surrounded me, throwing me into delirium. My lips moved on their own accord across the soft, tender flesh of her thighs, her waist, her chest, and her neck. When I drew back, I couldn’t help but stare for a moment. “You’re so beautiful…”

A sprinkling of fairy dust fell across her fair cheeks, making me realize that I’d been thinking out loud. To hide my embarrassment, I laid a deep, heated kiss onto her lips. Her arms hung over my shoulders, her tiny paws grasping and pulling at my tunic. “Link,” she sighed, our lips still touching. “Please…take me.”

Aligning the tip of my blade with her wide open entrance, I watched her expression as I cautiously inched my way inside her. She hissed, her whole body tensing. My hips froze. I waited for her to relax and to let me know when to continue. Once she did, I ever so slowly pushed into her the rest of the way. She cried out in agony. My chest tight with guilt, I kissed the corner of her eye where a tear was just beginning to emerge. “We don’t have to go any further if you don’t want to,” I reminded her.

“No, no, it’s okay. I just need a moment.” I nodded. “That’s sweet of you though. Thank you.” Still buried deep inside her, my hand interlaced with hers, I ran the other gently along her soft hairline. She smiled, her fingers closing in between my own.

Then she said something to me that would shatter my entire world.

“I love you, Link.”

When those three heart-stopping words left her lips followed by my name, I lost control of myself entirely. I couldn’t stop my body from practically collapsing on top of her, or my teeth from colliding with hers suddenly when I went in to kiss her. But I didn’t care. Every kiss before then seemed closer now to a mere peck on the lips. I let out a euphoric purr, high from the feeling of knowing my affections were reciprocated. More desperate than ever, I gave my hips an experimental thrust, and she mewled in surprise against my mouth. “I love you,” I professed, not even pausing in my fervent movements as her arms tightened their embrace around me, holding my torso flush to hers. “I love you,” I echoed. I didn’t know what else I could possibly say as any and all other words escaped me in that moment.

“I love you, too,” she squeaked. The frequency of her moans had grown to the point of being continuous. Not only that, but they’d become higher in pitch as well. Even without the exquisite sensation of being swallowed by her hot, silky interior over and over again, I undoubtedly could’ve climaxed right then and there just from seeing the look on her face and listening to the angelic tones of her voice.

“Goddess…I love you so much.” I dove in for another kiss. Hearing the wet sounds of her tongue curling against mine combined with the melody of her constant moans sent bracing chills from the crown of my head down through my spine. I quickened my already fast pace, falling into a devastating rhythm in sync with the bucking of her hips. Looking down, I watched myself disappearing into her all the way to the hilt. I threw off my tunic and undershirt; the heat was unbearable. With a particularly deep thrust after I’d slung one of her legs over my shoulder, I felt my head hit the back of her walls. I let out an unrestrained groan, my head spinning in ecstasy from the impact. “Princess, you feel s-so good…” From then on, I myself grew more and more vocal as I came closer and closer to the edge.

“So do you—“ She was interrupted by another broken gasp. Her nails dug into the skin of my back. She was shaking like a leaf at the mercy of the wind. “Link…I-I’m…!”

“Me too.” My thrusts were all over the place. I was so close, and I knew she was too from the way she was beginning to tighten around me. I held myself back, biting my lip until the moment she fell apart completely by my hand. I wanted to savour every second of her release. Hearing her whines rising higher and faster, I forced my cock even deeper inside her, more so than I’d imagined was possible.

“Link!”

Her walls collapsed all around me, along with her entire body. She threw her head back. A series of sounds bordering on screams flowed from her open mouth. It was altogether too much for me.

I saw stars as I felt myself join her in tumbling over the edge. My climax seemed never-ending. I cried out as utter ravishment swept through me from head to toe. Waves and waves of my white hot fluid spilled into her already flooded cunt one after another. My whole being convulsed as if wrought by a tremendous earthquake.

Little sighs of bliss still emanated from her throat as she and I both floated back down to earth. By then, the sky was already awash with the hues of early morning. The princess seemed too weak to even keep her arms around me. Her chest heaved up and down with every breath, and I was panting almost as hard as she was. I pulled my shaft out from between her legs, and out flowed streams of my release mixed with hers. “Oh, Hylia…” I uttered. The moment I looked up at her, I fell deep into her endless emerald eyes. They drew me in for another tender kiss. This one, unlike all the others before it, was slow and deliberate and heavy with emotion. It was as if time had stopped as soon as her lips had made contact with mine, and we had the entire world all to ourselves in that brief yet everlasting moment.


	4. Confessions & Conspiracies (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After many long days and nights of waiting, Zelda finally gets the chance to talk with Link in private about a very important matter.

Ever since my impetuous escapade with Link, I’d been dying to steal him away for some time alone. But of course, as fate would have it, every day following that one was packed with political gatherings and ceremonies and whatever not that I had to attend. All I wanted was to let him know, in detail, how I felt about him, and likewise for him to do the same. It had reached the point where I was losing sleep at night wondering about the true nature of his affections toward me.

So when the first opportunity to speak with him away from prying ears presented itself, I took it. Granted, it wasn’t in the most desirable of circumstances—he and I had been taking part in some grand banquet or another when I’d excused myself as I’d started feeling “out of sorts,” signalling subtly for my knight to follow—but I was desperate, and an empty stairwell not far from the dining hall would have to do. 

“Link...” He heard me come to a halt and turned to face me. “I... There’s something I’ve been meaning to discuss with you. And,” I chortled, “I’m quite sure you and I both know what it is.”

He averted his gaze with reddening ears, no words passing his pursed lips.

“I just wanted to tell you that I meant what I said.” His eyes met mine, though his head remained turned. “I know it’s forbidden by law—that  accursed law—but I hardly ever stop thinking about you. Even when we’re apart.” Now I, too, felt blood rushing up to my cheeks. I corrected my posture and looked him straight in the eye. “I just...I  need to know what lies in your heart. Could you tell me, please?”

His eyes widened. “H-Highness...” His blush spread rapidly from his ears across the rest of his face. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to say... You—oh, Goddess...” He dragged a hand over his face, making his lower eyelids sag. I couldn’t help but smile. “I’m sorry. I just think you’re...perfect. I don’t know...” he trailed off, a crumbling mess of awkwardness.

I let out a chuckle. “Aww, Link,” I cooed in unabashed adoration. I realized I should’ve expected this much from him. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say any more.”

I felt him stiffen as I went in to kiss him. His breaths were shallow, lips all but completely still against my own. I could almost feel his hand trembling as it came to rest against my cheek. And yet, when I opened one eye for a quick peek, his face showed barely any sign of doubt save for a slight dithering of the brow. My heart staggered for him. In hopes of easing his nerves, I gently and sweetly draped my arms around him.

Slowly, he separated his lips from mine and locked gazes with me. Almost nothing had changed about his expression, but his eyes were different; they somehow appeared softer, warmer, more vulnerable, than they had before.

When he went to kiss me again—and he did so with a clear rise in resolve—I let my body lean into his. This elicited a nasal exhale from him as his arm came down to situate itself around my waist, drawing me closer still into his lean frame. A soft hum escaped my throat, which he echoed, only with a touch more weight to it. All of a sudden, it was like we were stripped bare and lying in each other’s arms once again. I felt myself being surrounded by him, thoughts being consumed by him, until the only one left in my mind was, “I love you, Link.”

“Mmh, Princess...” he sighed in reply against my still open mouth. “I love you.” His words burned my lips with their deep-set passion. By now he’d leaned into me so deeply that my back was against the wall, as was my hand which he’d tightly interlocked with his. For one who had come to be known as the “silent knight” for his notorious lack of expressiveness, he surely had a way with body language. The relentless yearning that flowed from his touch was enough to overwhelm me into complete submission.

Alas, my living fantasy was cut short by a clearing of the throat from one of the royal guardsmen down the hall. We were lucky to have found a spot where the nearest guards were around the corner and out of sight, but unfortunately, due to the castle’s architecture, sound travelled quite far through its halls. There was no way to know for certain if we’d been heard or not. If that didn’t make me anxious, it certainly did Link, who’d backed away and was glancing up and down the stairway frantically.

“Hey.” I captured his face in both my hands, forcing the poor thing to look me in the eye. He bore a striking resemblance to a deer at bow point, shoulders tense and eyes wide with fear. “It’s okay,” I mouthed at him. He nodded, taking a shaky breath in and out through the mouth. Seeing him with panic written all over his face was almost more than I could bare. This was the first time I’d ever seen him like this. I wrapped him up tightly in my arms, rubbing up and down his back in slow and soothing motions. He returned my embrace without hesitating. Once he seemed to have regained some of his composure, I raised a hand to my lips and whispered into his ear a gentle suggestion: “What do you think about paying me a visit later tonight?”

I couldn’t see his face, but it was clear the idea made him uneasy. “But...the guards—”

“Won’t be a problem,” I finished for him. “I know of a flaw in their security system that you could easily exploit to make it in and out without being seen.“

He put a gap between us, coming face-to-face with me. The look he gave me was full of uncertainty.

“There’s no need to worry, Link, I promise. Do you think I’m foolish enough to put you in any danger?”

He remained silent, gaze pointed at the floor.

“Oh, for Hylia’s sake...” I rolled my eyes. “Look. Purah and I have used this method countless times, and she’s never once been caught. All you have to do is borrow my Sheikah slate and warp to the location marked on the map. It couldn’t be easier, right?”

He stayed quiet for another moment or two, weighing the options. Then he nodded curtly, a faint smile appearing on his lips, and whispered, “I’ll give it a try.”


	5. Submersed in Sorrow (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link comforts Zelda after another failed pilgrimage to one of the three sacred springs of the Goddess.

“Curse you…”

I started at the harsh collision of her hands and the water, which contrasted her ever meagre tone of voice.

“I’ve spent every day of my life dedicated to praying. And still the holy powers have proven deaf to my devotion.” The princess had requested that I take her to the Spring of Power with the hope that it would finally awaken something within her. As always, she was praying with every living fibre in her body. My grasp on the hilt of my sword hardened. Although I didn’t consider myself a particularly spiteful person, I was starting to share her resentment toward the spirits for their cold disregard of her in this time of desperation. “Please, just tell me… What is it? What’s wrong with me?!”

At hearing the sheer hopelessness and self-doubt trembling in her words, I turned around without even thinking, seeing her with her head lowered and her arms wrapped around herself, trying her hardest not to break. Before long, her shoulders began to shiver, and I could barely make out, over the constant roar of the waterfalls surrounding the spring, the sound of gentle weeping.

Without sparing a thought for whatever deity claimed to inhabit this spring, I sheathed my blade and rushed to her side. I placed a hand on her shoulder and realized she was cold as ice. She turned around to face me with tears in her eyes. “Link…?”

I held my arms out to her, and she shuffled into my embrace with the mannerisms of a young child who’d lost her way. She held onto me with all the strength she could muster. Her body trembled violently with every gasp and sob. All I could do, as her tears soaked through the fabric of my tunic, was hold her close, hoping it was enough to give her a little bit of comfort.

“All I want…” she started. “All I want is to be of use to you.” I gave her a gentle squeeze, her face buried in my shoulder. “What if, because of me, the Calamity…gets the best of you and the other champions? Then everyone will—” She was cut off by the frailty of her own voice, causing it to break. She held onto me even tighter, choking back a sob. “I’m so afraid…” My heart took a dive. “I don’t want to be the reason f…for you and so many people to…”

“You won’t, Princess,” I interrupted as another bout of sobs overtook her. “You mustn’t worry about me. The others will have my back, and I’ll have theirs.” She looked me in the eyes through her own swollen and red ones. I held her damp cheeks in my palms, tucking a few strands of hair that had adhered to her face behind her ear. “All I want,” I whispered, caressing the soft skin of her cheeks, “is to keep you safe from harm. That is my only wish.”

I placed a kiss onto her frigid, quivering lips. She returned it with another, one that lingered for far longer than the previous. When it ended, her eyes met mine, and she began crying all over again, falling limp in my arms. That night, I made a silent vow to always be there for her, no matter what circumstances would befall us.


	6. Bereavement (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of the Great Calamity, Link mourns the sudden loss of his beloved princess, who never succeeded in unlocking the sacred power to seal Ganon away.

The autonomous monster before me buckled under its own weight, a cloud of scarlet smoke billowing up from its corpse as the light flickered and faded from its solitary eye. My head was spinning, my lungs voraciously gulping in air at a dizzying rate. My undershirt clung to the sweat on my back, and I ached everywhere. But these were the least of my worries. Sword in hand, I turned and raced to my princess’ side, who’d been left to lie in a lake of her own blood all this time.

“L...ink...?” she spluttered before her body was wracked by a gruesome coughing fit. 

“Highness...” I fell to my knees, avoiding her wounded side and being as gentle as I possibly could as I propped her up on my lap. “Oh, Goddess...” The sight was nauseating. Her pure, white dress was now in rags and completely soaked in crimson, barely clinging onto her crippled, mutilated form. “I’m so sorry.”

“It h—” Her chest convulsed. Another sickening wave swallowed her up as she continued to drown bit by bit. “It...hurts...” she finally got out, “s-so much...”

I felt her pain as if it were my own; bleak, heavy, and all-encompassing. “I know,” I uttered, watching helplessly as her body spasmed in self-destruction. 

Even as her faithful protector, I had failed to spot the enemy on high preparing to fire. And now, even after fending off wave after wave of foes with nothing but the sword and the strength of my own body, there was nothing I could do to save her. And I knew it was only a matter of time until another one of those things spotted us. I wanted to stand up and curse myself until I went blue in the face, but I held it in. I had to stay strong. 

“I’m s...sorry...” she sobbed, rivers of grief and misery pouring down her precious face. 

“No, no, please don’t apologize,” I hushed, cradling her delicate cheek in my palm. I scoured my mind for something to say, anything that might put her at ease, but there weren’t many options. “I love you,” I eventually offered, hoping that these few words of affection might suffice. 

“I l-love you...too...” she choked out. 

Her eyes began to close. Even though I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it, I panicked. Time was taking her away so fast. Her relentless hacking had died down a bit, so I leaded in closer. 

“W-wait, don’t...” I froze. Her fingertips brushed my tunic as she struggled desperately to lift them in protest. “Th...there’s...blood—”

I closed my fingers around hers and brought her hand close to my bruised cheek, nearly biting a hole in my lip trying not to cry. I shook my head dismissively. Then finally I closed the gap between us and kissed her quivering lips. 

I had to block out the invasive taste of iron that assaulted my tongue as we merged into one for what would be the last time. I knew what this gesture represented for the both of us: a farewell. So I kissed her as slowly and as deeply and as softly as I ever had, and yet, it wasn’t enough. If only I’d known that it would all come to such an abrupt end, that she’d be so violently torn away from me without a shred of mercy, I would’ve spent double the time I normally had training and preparing. This was all because of my own failures and shortcomings. I was so pathetic, I couldn’t even stop my tears from falling any longer. They landed harshly on the surface of her already tear-sodden face. 

I couldn’t bring myself to part from her for the longest time, until the moment I realized her lips had fallen still against my own. My heart stopped. “Zelda...?” I worried. 

She gave a croaked murmur just loud enough to let me know she was still with me. Her breathing had become so slow and shallow that it was close to undetectable, but she no longer looked at me with a sorrowful grimace. Instead, a faint smile graced her features, her eyes filled with blissful contentment as she gazed up at me. 

Memories flashed before my eyes. Memories of happy times and memories of sad times. In each one, without exception, I was always there by her side, and she there at mine. I recalled the first time she’d uttered the words, “I love you,” as well as the many times after, all with that heavenly smile that I treasured so dearly. I recalled the day I’d pledged my soul to her, promising to keep her safe from harm no matter the cost. And yet...

“Link...” 

The sound of her voice jerked me back to reality. She was paler than ever now, and hardly moving, lying almost completely limp in my arms. I had to strain my ears in order to hear her, her tone barely above a whisper amidst the chaos of the roaring flames and clanking metal in the background. “It’s okay. I’m here,” I encouraged. “What is it?”

“Y...you...” she began, each breath shallow and unstable, “make me...so...happy...” At those broken words, I felt my own breath hitch. “I’m...so g...glad I...met...you...”

I waited patiently for her to continue, everything without our immediate surroundings virtually having disappeared from existence. 

But she didn’t say another word. 

“Zelda...” I whimpered weakly. When she didn’t respond, I could clearly feel my own heart being pierced and shattered into millions of tiny pieces. Her eyes had closed, the gentle rise and fall of her chest having dwindled to a conclusive halt. “Princess...” My tone tightened as uncontrollable sobs began to take hold of me. I grazed my thumb softly against her still warm cheek. “Please...come back.” My tears once again landed on my silent princess’ face, now withered and completely devoid of life. “Come back...”

I was still bent over my beloved, trapped in the deepest pits of despair with no one to guide me out, when I began to hear a voice ringing in my ears. 

It was strange, embodying an almost metallic quality, unlike any voice I’d ever heard before. It was too warped for me to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman or neither, but whoever it was seemed to be sealed inside the sword lying at my side. “Forgive me, Master,” the voice spoke, “but now is not the time to grieve.”

The words somehow spoken by the blade were enough to shake me out of my pain-stricken state. “Who are you?” _And how dare you?_ I wanted to add, muscles tense and teeth borne in a disgusted snarl. 

“The details of my identity are not important. For now, I am simply your loyal messenger.” Messenger? What kind of messenger resided inside an ancient sword with the power to pierce the heart of evil? “I have received word from the three Goddesses, Din, Nayru, and Farore. Please listen well, for Their decree is thusly.” 

I kept waiting for a chance to interrupt this spirit, or whatever it was, as there were still so many things on my mind that I _needed_ answers to. But the chance to do so never came. 

The voice changed as it delivered the so-called ‘decree of the Goddesses.’ Its aura was brighter and purer, almost unrecognizable. “‘As Hylia’s sole heir has fallen in the wake of the Great Calamity, We have no choice but to put the fate of Hyrule in your hands.’” 

“What—?!”

A sudden shock wave erupted right in front of me. I winced, feeling like my body had collided flat against a surface of water. The sound was deafening. I opened my eyes, but the blinding light now emanating up from Zelda’s corpse forced me to squint. 

As my eyes adjusted, I began to make out the shape of the insignia known well by all people across Hyrule. 

“‘O hero chosen by the sword that seals the darkness,’” it went on, “‘We now bestow upon you Our legacy—the ancient power that was once passed down from generation to generation within the holy royal family—the Triforce.’” My mouth hung open as I knelt, at a complete loss. “‘Go forth, brave one, and put an end to this disaster.’”

The sword went silent. I was expecting something more. Perhaps a few words of clarification or encouragement or at least some justification for me to do as suggested. When none was given, I shook my head in disbelief, then simply said, “No.”

The blade reverted back to its original voice. “Master...”

“No. Absolutely not.” 

“It is by the will of the Goddesses that you—”

“Really?” I snapped. The sword’s glow dimmed. “Where were these ‘merciful Goddesses’ while the princess wasted her whole life away trying to wield this ‘sacred power?’” I scoffed spitefully. “Where were They just moments ago? When...when I couldn’t...” My tone was teetering, tears rolling heavily down my cheeks and plummeting onto the unmoving husk lying in my lap. My hands clenched into fists. “Damn it...”

Another moment passed as I wept silently. Then that wretched voice chimed in again. “Please, do not think you hold any responsibility for this.” I buried my nose in Zelda’s limp, golden locks, the light continuing to beat down harshly. “I may be a stranger to you, but this is not the case in the other direction.” I raised my head. “I can say with ninety five percent certainty that you blame yourself for this more than you do anyone else, including the three Goddesses.” 

I blinked away a few more tears. “What...?”

“I can sense the deep anguish you are feeling,” continued the sword spirit in its ethereal tamber. “And at present, I must urge you to direct that anguish towards your enemy, the one that took Her Highness away from you.”

I clasped my hand tightly around that of my deceased deity, gritting my teeth. “Ganon.”

It was true that none of this would’ve come to pass if it weren’t for the putrid haze of evil crawling across every field. Even now, I still heard the bone-chilling clanks and the screams of terrorized soldiers in the distance. It filled my being with an overwhelming need for silence. 

I was already prepared to die alongside her; I no longer feared it. 

Tenderly, I placed the body of my goddess on the ground, whispering a faint yet heartfelt apology for once again having to abandon her where she lay. I stumbled as I rose to my feet, still wounded and weak, and fixed my gaze on the gleaming monument before me. 

The moment the fingertips of my right hand made contact with it, my being was seized by an insurmountable force. It flowed through me, burning my throat and filling me up to the brim like lightning. Then as soon as the sensation had taken hold of me, it dissipated. 

The light was gone, now manifesting itself as a faint glow exuding from my form. I stood up straight, rolling my head back. I felt completely revitalized. There wasn’t a trace of fatigue left in my body, and it was as if each and every one of the cuts and bruises I’d sustained had been burned right off. 

Casting my gaze downward, I took in the sight of the Triforce, all three segments shining bright and strong, engraved on the back of my hand. 

Crouching down onto one knee, I donned the legendary sword once again. My hair fluttered in the wind once freed from the bonds keeping it contained behind my back. I’d gone and done it. There was no turning back now.

~ • ~

It didn’t take me long to master control over my new abilities. After my first attempt at wielding them, it seemed just about all the evil within a mile radius had been wiped clean off the face of the earth. At first, it shocked me. Then I realized, up against a foe such as mine, there was no point in holding back. 

I hated to admit it for the princess’ sake, but utilizing this power was surprisingly intuitive. If she’d only had a few more moments...

My hand tightened its pulverizing grip on the Master Sword. The sooner the Calamity was brought to its knees, the better. It wouldn’t be much longer, as traveling on foot was made incredibly easy. I was so light on my feet, it felt as though I could leave the ground at any moment. I was impervious to the laws of nature that had once kept me chained to the earth. Nothing stood in my way as I bounded weightlessly across the fields, leaving a trail of twisted carcasses behind me. 

At long last, I’d arrived. Castle Town was in ruins, and the stench of blood mixed with malice hung thick in the air. The beast billowed and prowled high above the castle rooftops, the very sight of it setting my nerves ablaze. The end was nigh, and this time, I would not fail. 

The time for retribution was now. I let the light of the heavens surge through me. With the combined power of the sacred blade and wish-granting relic completely at my disposal, there was very nearly nothing of which I was incapable. I closed my eyes. With enough focus, soon enough, the soles of my feet were leaving the ground, starting with my heels and ending with my toes. I rose higher and higher into the sky until I was face-to-face with my enemy. 

The creature looked straight at me. Its eyes were burning embers, it’s fangs ten times the size of stalagmites. I was staring death itself in the face. And yet, there wasn’t a hint of fear lingering in my chest. 

Ganon lunged at me, its massive jaws unhinged. 

I dodged it, soaring high above its head in a matter of seconds. 

A grin creeped its way onto my face. Perhaps it would be fun to play with this thing for a short while. 

Ganon charged. 

I ducked to the south, heart racing with exhilaration. 

It charged again, a little disoriented. This time I decided to quite literally give it the runaround. 

I had to laugh. Either I was moving at blinding speeds, or Calamity Ganon was as slow as a snail in sand. I let it chase me in circles for a bit, slowing my pace so it could keep up. Then I zigzagged to the side. 

Its head turned in every direction. It almost looked dizzy. Then it spotted me. 

I dodged its bite yet again, infuriating it even more. 

I continued leading our little dance a while longer, wanting to give the beast a fighting chance before I slew it. But no matter how strong its desire to kill me, like it did her, I always stayed an inch out of reach. 

Ganon waled in frustration, making the very air shiver. It made another pitiful advance. Again, I waited until the very last second to glide out of the way. 

Just when it seemed ready to try and close in on me from above, the beast stopped, fangs dripping with bloodlust and eyes trained on me. I remained still, mocking its inefficacy. 

_Boom_

A beam of red-hot energy just barely missed my cheek. I winced, following its trajectory. Far in the distance, I could see a mountainous cloud of smoke billowing up from an enormous, black crater. 

The shot had come from the southwest, from Gerudo Valley. There, I spotted the divine beast once controlled by Lady Urbosa, Vah Naboris, glowing a menacing scarlet and towering threateningly. It stood nearly as high as the shelf it stood upon. It was preparing to fire again. 

I felt a rush of adrenaline. 

From all four corners of the map, the divine beasts were aiming in my direction. 

I glanced up at my original opponent, whose gaping jaws almost appeared to be smiling down at me. 

With no time to think, I opened my left hand and held it out in front of me. In it appeared a bow, crafted from a rich, golden crystal, the likes of which I never could’ve imagined. 

The beast charged, and I leapt out of the way. It seemed to move at thrice the speed it had before. 

Raising the bow of light, I drew it back to my ear, and there appeared an arrow of similar composition already nocked to the string. I took aim at Vah Ruta in the southeast and let my arrow fly. 

There was no time to watch it land. 

Another beam came straight toward me. I’d just barely managed to see it in time. 

It seemed my first shot had missed its target. I tried again, adjusting my aim and praying to no god in particular that I wouldn’t be slaughtered before I could release it. 

To my relief, my second arrow flew true toward the beast controlling the machine. A flash of light went off as it hit its mark. The smaller creature’s screams were loud enough to be heard all the way from Central Hyrule. 

Just three more, and the monstrosity that had taken my princess’ life would be done for.

~ • ~

It took every ounce of my focus and willpower combined to take down each automaton one by one. Even so, the destruction that occurred in the time it took me to do so was beyond description. In every direction, smoke was rising up, completely obscuring the horizon. I could only imagine how many lives had been lost in this horrific massacre. 

I could no longer contain myself. I’d had enough. 

My emotions spilled over in an eruption of a battle cry. Sword extended, I charged at my enemy and thrusted the blade deep into its undeveloped skull. 

The beast writhed in agony at my unyielding hand. I willed my power to flow forth, letting it grow ever stronger and mightier. The earth trembled. Another blood-curdling shriek spewed from the spectral being’s vast jaws as it was slowly torn apart. 

I felt something dark and sinister crawl beneath my skin as I watched the creature wriggle beneath me like a worm in the clutches of a hungering bird’s beak. I envisioned Zelda’s mutilated dead body, and the searing heat of the explosion that had killed her. The memory made my blood boil. It fuelled the flame in my core until it became a towering inferno high enough to reach the heavens. 

The sword’s light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping both me and the beast and swallowing up everything in sight. Then in an instant, the light imploded, and the whole world went black.

~ • ~

When I opened my eyes, the sight that greeted me was a ray of golden sunlight peaking out from behind the white clouds. 

I brushed the hair out of my face. I was splayed out on my back. The scorched grass I was lying on must’ve been all that had broken my fall when I’d lost consciousness. Somehow, though, I had no trouble sitting up. When I did, I spotted the Master Sword lying on the ground just a few feet away from me, its glow gone. 

I stood myself up. The last thing I could recall was my hand being fully submerged in Ganon’s murky, coagulated form. But now, there wasn’t a trace of malice on me. Upon closer inspection, it seemed I’d sustained no injuries of any kind. This, I surmised, was the power of the Golden Goddesses. 

The Goddesses... They were the ones who’d put me up to this task. And for what? Now that it was done, what was I meant to do? Where was I meant to go? It seemed the whole world was up in flames. Even if there were survivors, even if I’d saved civilization from certain doom, I had already lost everything. My kingdom, my home, my friends and family, and of course, my very reason for being. 

Precious memories of her once again flooded my mind. Zelda, my joy, my angel, my everything, who’d made life worth living simply with the power of her radiant smile. 

Then I was hit by the memory of how that radiance had been snuffed out like the flickering flame of a candle. How her body had been ruptured and carved open like that of a little bird struck down by an arrow. How the sight and scent and sound of her trying to move in that state had made bile rise up from the bottom of my throat. My shaking hands came up to cover my mouth. 

I collapsed onto my hands and knees. Despite my triumph over Calamity Ganon, I now knelt in complete and utter defeat. 

“Link...”

My heart stopped at the faint but unmistakable voice. It was impossible, and yet...

“Link.”

There it was again, this time clearer and stronger. My head snapped up, eyes widening. 

“Zelda...!”

Right there in front of me, levitating just above the ground, was my lost love. Though she now took on a pale and hazy appearance, she’d returned to her beautiful, shining self. Engraved in her smile was the light of a thousand suns, just as it had once been. 

I tried to speak, but no words came out. For a moment, the thought that I’d died and become a spirit like her passed my mind. But then the feeling of fresh tears trickling down my cheeks and of the earth beneath me brought me back to reality. 

The grass swayed in the soft breeze as she knelt down on her knees in front of me. She tilted my chin up with feathery fingertips. 

Her eyes gazed deeply into my own, gently rippling like ringlets in a pond. She held my face in her two flawless palms. Her lips brushed mine, not altogether there, though they were just as soft and just as warm as they’d always been. The tears that had formed behind by eyelids couldn’t remain contained, after I’d tried so hard to hold them back for just a little while longer. Then before I could shed any more, it was over. 

My lips chased after hers as she drew away, withdrawing her dainty hands from my damp cheeks. She rose, then spoke what would be the last two words she ever said to me. 

“Thank you.” 

Just like that, she vanished in a wisp of aquamarine. 

I let out the sob I’d been holding in, my arms clutching onto one and other as I bent down toward the cold, lifeless ground. 

From this day forward, there would be no more holding hands. No more late-night excursions away from prying eyes. No more warm embraces or sweet words of comfort in the low moments. No more waking up in the castle each and every day giddy at the thought of seeing her face once again. 

At least now, she could finally be at peace. 


	7. Sweet Dreams (T)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Link discovers the princess has been keeping herself awake at night for fear of nightmares, he takes matters into his own hands.

Ever since bringing the princess back to Hateno to live with me, she seemed more and more drained of energy as the days went by. She would greet me each morning with bleary eyes and legs like lead. When I first started to suspect that she’d been staying awake at night, I decided it was time to do something about it. 

The sun had gone to rest behind the mountains, and she and I were at the dinner table finishing up a stiflingly awkward meal. 

My fork made a sharp clattering sound against the table when I set it down. The princess jumped. I cleared my throat. “Your Highness,” I began, “would you mind telling me why it is that you seem so exhausted these days?”

“What do you...mean?” she yawned, hand raised politely over her mouth. 

“You know, you don’t have to hide anything from me.” She blinked, looking puzzled. “Haven’t you been getting any sleep?”

Panic settled into her baggy, bloodshot eyes. “Uhh, well...” She mumbled something unintelligible under her breath. I felt myself getting impatient. Then with a heavy sigh, “I just... What if I have nightmares?”

The subtle tremor of her lower lip snuffed out the last of my frustration. It made me want more than anything just to hold her in my arms and make all her fears go away. But instead, I took a deep breath and stood up to clear off my spot at the table. “I’m only worried for you, princess.”

“It’s fine, really. I haven’t slept at all in the past one hundred years,” she insisted, clumsily stacking her dishes on the kitchen counter next to mine with another yawn. “I’ll be okay,” she smiled sweetly. “Don’t worry about me.”

But I wasn’t having it. I refused to sit idly by while she stayed awake each night doing Hylia-knew-what instead of sleeping. What was the point in me sitting outside by the fire all night long if neither one of us would get a wink of shuteye anyway? Aside from that, the thought of her subjecting herself to such misery in the waking world just didn’t sit right with me.

So I took her by the wrist and hauled her upstairs. If she wasn’t going to take responsibility for her own health and wellbeing, I would. I’d made an oath, after all. 

“Umm, Link?” I said nothing as I sat her down on the bed, retracting my grasp on her to ensure she stayed put. I rummaged through the drawers a bit before pulling out one of her neatly folded night gowns and placing it on her lap. 

“There.” She peered up at me with a blank look on her face. “If you’re not changed by the time I get back, I’ll—” The words caught in my throat on their way out. My face flushed. I stood up straight and turned toward the stairwell. “I’ll do it myself...”

~ • ~

My heart was fit to burst out of its cage.

Her Highness was turned away from me, my upper arm sandwiched between her neck and the pillow as I lay on my back, staring up at the ceiling. The bed’s small size meant there couldn’t be too much empty space between us. This made me agonizingly aware of how close we were to colliding at all times. In truth, I wanted nothing more than to weave my legs together with hers and envelope her frame like we were two stacked sugar bowls.

But despite how much I yearned to feel her pressed against me, I couldn’t bring myself to move.

Of course, I knew about most of our past affairs, and she knew that I knew about them, which was a fact that I also knew. Still, the heat festering in the tips of my ears refused to falter. It was hard to fathom just how comfortable she was with this arrangement. Had I gone too far? Even if she said she didn’t mind, it was hard to believe. I wasn’t the same Link she’d once known, after all.

Either way, I couldn’t deny what all this was doing to me. Since my awakening, I’d never truly felt so close to another person, physically or otherwise. Her perfect, golden hair was smooth as silk wrapped between my fingertips. I took a deep inhale through the nose, my lungs filling up and then emptying out in a long sigh. I’d never imagined that simply lying next to another person could be so nourishing for one’s soul.

With a drowsy groan, the slumbering princess turned over onto her other side and rolled into mine in doing so. She and I were touching now, her arms tucked in against my torso.

My chest began to tighten. I’d experienced this feeling a few times before, whenever I’d recall a memory from my past life with her. Because of those moments, I’d always associated this tension in my chest with feelings of longing and sorrow. But now she was here, lying right up against me, and I had no reason to feel sad.

I took the edge of the blanket and pulled it up over her exposed shoulder. What was wrong with me? Too tired to give it too much thought, I shrugged it off and surrendered to sleep. 


	8. The Mark of a Lover (E)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda and Link are in the process of rekindling their relationship of one hundred years past, but Zelda is still haunted by her horrifying memories.

Link and I were returning home after a long day of making plans for Hyrule’s restoration. Night’s starry blanket had already fallen over the land three or four hours prior to us arriving at his house. He told me he was going to put the horses to bed and for me to go inside and get settled in for the night. Since we’d already eaten on our way back, I was just going to head straight upstairs and fall asleep. I was exhausted. But having this as my new place to return to at the end of each day instead of the cold, stone walls of the castle put a smile on my face. Link’s little cottage on the outskirts of Hateno felt more like home than the place where I’d grown up ever had.

Even after I’d been living here with him for a few months, though, there had still been a thick brick wall standing between the two of us for a while. This had most likely been a result of my own apprehension. For quite some time after our reunion, it had been difficult for me to cope with and truly grasp the extent of his amnesia. He’d told me that, despite the countless holes still remaining in his memory and that he’d most likely never come close to becoming his former self again, his recollection of the time he’d spent by my side was clearer than anything else he’d remembered. Even so, I couldn’t shake the doubt that persistently clung onto me. The doubt that he still felt the same way about me as he had back then, especially after all I’d been forced to put him through.

Thankfully, that doubt would be put to rest before long with the help I would receive from an acquaintance of his. He was a wandering rito bard called Kass, and I’d watched Link talk with him on several occasions along the course of his journey. The day I met him, we had a long and substantial conversation about the old days and what his teacher had confided in him. At the end, he gave me a piece of advice: “If you still feel the same way about him as you did then, even with his change of character, then you should tell him. I think you’ll find he hasn’t changed nearly as much as you think.”

Slipping out of my boots and stockings and setting them down by the stairwell, I smiled to myself as I recounted the day Kass’ words had proven true.

I made my way upstairs for a much needed rest, doing away with my gloves along with all the uncomfortable belts and straps holding my waist bag and Sheikah slate. I let my hair down, placing the clips that had been holding it out of my face onto the dresser, and felt it relax after being braided tightly to my head for the duration of the day. The fluffy duvet on Link’s bed broke my fall. After throwing off my over-shirt and leggings, I sighed before getting up again to pick something out to wear into bed.

Then came the sound of the front door opening.

At a loss for what to do, I just stood there frozen as I watched him put his shoes neatly beside my own and hang up his sword by the doorway. He clumped weightily up the stairs with a lusty yawn. Upon making eye contact with me, he stopped, and I felt all the fluid in my body start to boil. I wanted to apologize for my indecency, but all that came out were a few meaningless sputterings. It wasn’t my privacy I was concerned with, but rather his own limits and whether I had violated them on accident. The thought sent me into panic. “I’m—I’m so sorry,” I finally got out.

But then I realized he’d hardly reacted in the way I’d been expecting. He seemed largely unphased, an indecipherable expression carved into his features. Here I was, halfway undressed in front of him with my legs all but completely bare and my blouse leaving little to the imagination, and he hadn’t even batted an eye, let alone averted them. He just kept staring at me in a daze as he silently put his hair tie down on the dresser, drawing closer to me in the process.

“Link…?” I tried. He finally seemed to snap out of it, blinking once or twice and directing his gaze back up to my face. He flushed, mouth opening, but letting no sound out. He forced a swallow, and I almost missed his eyes glancing directly downward for a split second. I followed them, and the reason behind his flustered state revealed itself to me.

He kind of laughed in spite of himself. I smiled back at him. But as the humour faded from his eyes, in their depths began to swirl a salacious haze that I knew all too well.

His lips were on mine before I could even blink.

He exhaled, shoulders sinking as he leaned his weight into me. I stepped back until my calves hit the bed frame, and I fell backward. He landed mere inches above me. He supported himself with his arms on either side of my head, barricading me in. I felt his breath hit my face; it was hotter than the fires of Eldin. “Princess…” he sighed softly, embracing my mouth with his own yet again. His kisses were slow, deep, and searing, as always.

“‘Zelda’,” I corrected as soon as I saw an opening. “Please, just call me ‘Zelda’.” He gave a smile of satisfaction before diving back in. My hands buried themselves in his tangled mane while his traversed towards my chest. I squeaked in surprise. “Link, wait,” I said against his lips. He backed off, expression full of concern. No matter how hard I tried to hold it off, doubt had started to seep back in under my skin. “Are you sure this is what you want?” He tilted his head. “I mean, it’s been a very long time, and there’s still the matter of your memories to consider…”

“Zelda, of course I want this,” he answered, his fingertips slipping the button of my blouse collar through its slit. “I-I…” A hint of vermilion decorated his cheeks when his voice cracked. “Honestly I’ve been looking forward to this ever since I remembered our first time together.” A short, silent gasp escaped me when he pressed his lips into the delicate skin of my neck.

His words, along with the actions that followed, made my heart thrum giddily in my chest. “Really? You remember that?” He nodded against my neck before I felt the tip of his tongue dart out of his open mouth. I let out a croon of shameless indulgence—which he echoed—and let the corners of my lips turn up.

But then he did something unexpected. He bore his teeth and bit into the crook of my neck.

It wasn’t hard in the least, but it came as such a shock to me that I let out a yelp. He looked up. “I’m fine,” I reassured hastily. Then, with a surge of excitement, “You don’t have to stop.” So he continued. His teeth nipped and dug into my skin with an increasing amount of pressure. Every now and then, he’d trail his tongue along the plain of my neck all the way up to my ear. Every time, it made me shiver beneath him.

He sealed his lips around my skin and sucked hard. I choked back an agonized moan. The spot on my neck that he was slowly devouring was throbbing in a mixture of pain and pleasure. Once he seemed to have deemed my neck sufficiently branded, he gave it a gentle, kittenish lick and backed away, leaving just a narrow gap between us. I locked eyes with him in a moment when the air fell still. “I love you,” he breathed, hands wandering down silently along the frame of my waist.

“I love you, too.” His fingers hooked under the laced hem of the only thin layer of fabric keeping him from where I wanted him most. He slid them down my thighs, past my knees, and off my ankles. I propped myself up on my elbows for a better view of him. My body was buzzing in anticipation. But then he donned an uncharacteristically impish grin, removing his gloves and arm guard tediously with hooded eyes bound to my vulnerable form. Once again, he surprised me by placing his—still clothed—knee between my legs and plowing it into me. I gasped at the foreign sensation. “Link…!” His smirk grew, complemented by the soft huff that escaped through his nose in his amusement. My hips bucked, and I let out a whimper, searching with fervour for that sweet spot that would provide me with the friction that I needed. When I finally found it, I threw my head back and started abusing it on his knee in a state of ruttish mindlessness.

But it wasn’t to last. Just when I’d found some relief, he lowered his leg. With a kiss to my ankle, he climbed up onto the bed behind me and scooped me up by my arms, seating me on his lap.

His arms slithered around my waist and his fingers wrapped around the base of my blouse. I slipped my wrists through the cuffs of my sleeves, raising my arms above my head as he lifted the garment off of me. I tensed at the feeling of the open air surrounding my now fully exposed body. The cold tip of his nose ghosted against my nape.

I pivoted to face him, which positioned my breasts in a way that aligned them with his jaw. Automatically, he opened his mouth and let one of my tits slot between his lips, fondling the other with his fingers. He gave the one an experimental nibble. At this, his name dripped freely from my gaping mouth, rolling off my tongue with such ease. His rock-hard sex was prodding constantly at my own through his trousers. I just couldn’t stay still. When I started rubbing myself up against him, he stiffened, emitting a shaky exhale that fanned out as it hit my breast. Before long, he started meeting my movements, bucking his hips to a steady rhythm. I had to keep my balance by securing my arms tightly around his shoulders, and, in doing so, my hands glided down and found themselves between the linen of his undershirt and his bare back. Soon, he was jostling me so roughly that it became impossible to hold my now raw and sensitive tits between his lips. He stilled his hips, then glanced up at me with a heat in his stare that could melt diamond.

His hands went down to the hem of his tunic. At that moment, I realized what was about to happen, but it was already too late to look away.

Both his tunic and his undershirt came off in one fell swoop.

My stomach sank like a rock. Each one of his scars burned into my eyes; they were all I could see even after I turned my head. “No…” I pleaded, shaking my head. “Goddess, please, no…!”

All at once, I was hurtled back in time to the day I’d lost everything. I vividly remembered the excruciating heat of the flames surrounding us, the mechanical clanking sounds of the approaching enemy, and the weight of his limp, unmoving body lying in my lap. My head was pounding and I wanted to scream or throw up or something. I ended up with my arms and legs wrapped like a vice around him. I was shaking violently and gasping for air, feeling like I was choking.

“Oh, Zelda…” Link held my breaking body close to his already broken one as he lied back, bringing me to rest on top of him. His ash-blackened blood kept spilling out of every wound and soaking my neck and chest, pooling beneath us as we both slowly drowned in crimson. I knew it wasn’t real, but that didn’t make it any less horrifying. I clamped my eyes shut in a desperate attempt to block it all out. “I’m right here,” I heard him say over the sounds of explosions and massacre. I tried my hardest just to keep my focus trained on his voice in the distance. “Everything’s okay,” he whispered again and again as the world seemed to crumble all around us. “We‘re both okay.”

When this sickening wave of terror had passed for the most part and I was able to breathe again, I opened my eyes and was relieved to see that the scene had finally vanished and we were lying on his bed back in the comfort of his house. He’d been rubbing soothing circles into the small of my back the whole time. But tears flooded my eyes again when I felt his corrupted flesh scraping against my exposed front. I buried my face in his chest.

“Can you look up at me?” he uttered, his voice soft and soothing like honey. I did as he asked. He held my tear-streaked cheek in one hand and stroked my back with the other. “Are you alright now, love?”

I nodded weakly, blubbering out an, “I think so.”

He touched his lips to mine gently before asking in a tender tone, “Do you feel like getting dressed and calling it a night? What do you think?”

I mulled over his suggestion for a moment. I didn’t feel all too confident in my ability to fall asleep just yet. And even though it was so distressing for me to see him like this, I couldn’t help but revel in the warm sensation of his bare skin against mine. So after a while, I shook my head. “Could we just go back to what we were doing before?”

Naturally he was a bit taken aback by my request. “You really want to? I don’t mind if not.”

“No,” I nearly whimpered, “I want to.” I’d surprised even myself with the way I was practically pleading for it. Honestly I just wanted something to get my mind off of what had just taken hold of me.

A chivalrous smile crossed his visage as he placed his lips briefly just below my ear. “I’ll do whatever it is you want.”

I tittered to myself in response to being put on the spot. “Uhm, I just…” I broke eye contact with him, getting frustrated with myself for being unable to form a single request. “I don’t know, just…do whatever.”

He nodded, and his smile shifted from sweet to disconcertingly sinister. He flipped me onto my back, pinning both my wrists above my head with one strong hand. My heart lurched. Then his fingers appeared between my legs, and I squirmed at the feeling. I was still dripping wet from earlier. He let out a deep, guttural sigh, taking great pleasure in the way my lips yielded to his touch.

Leaning over me, he swept my hair aside with the tip of his nose and latched his mouth onto my neck again, on the opposite side this time. His teeth scraped harshly. I shivered, my breaths quickening. His lips trailed from my neck across my collarbone and down towards my chest. “Link…” I drawled when he ran his tongue over one of my tits. All the while, his fingers circled my entrance in an endless effort to push me to the edge of my patience. Needless to say, it was working. At one point, he even slid his digits across the surface of my open slit and grazed them over my clit as well just for good measure. “Link, please…” He smirked proudly against my breast at the sound of my deprived begging. He’d never been such a damned tease whenever he’d made love to me a century before.

When his fingers left my heat with my slick arousal running along their lengths, he decided to make a show of catching the drips with his tongue, not once taking his gaze off me. A deep-set whimper escaped the back of my throat as I lay there helpless, wondering what had happened to my sweet, shy, little knight. Surely he knew. _Surely,_ he was completely aware of just how tempting he was making himself out to be. The guileful glint in his eyes said it all.

“Would you mind closing your eyes for me?” I obeyed without a second thought. It was humiliating how swift and effortless it was for him to turn me into a needy, defenceless toy for him to play with as he pleased. But that feeling of shame was always easily overridden by the feeling of his lips meeting mine. He gave me a far-too-brief peck before the weight of his hand holding my wrists was relieved. I felt the bed shift as he stood up, and heard what could only be the clinking of a belt buckle followed by the rustling of fabric.

His lips landed on mine out of the blue, kissing me fiercely with fire on his tongue. He made it worse by retreating away from me again and again in a torturous pattern. Having had enough, I grabbed him by the back of the neck and attacked his mouth. I felt him exhale in a snicker. Now he had me reduced to a taut, quivering knot of whines and uncontrollable hunger. I‘d been coiled so tightly for so long, I felt like crying when he pried my palms off his neck and stole away the only physical feeling of him that I had left to cling to.

The next moment, though, his sweltering breath hit the shell of my ear. Then, in a dark, abysmal tone that stroked me to my very core, he uttered a single word: _“Beg.”_

My cunt clenched around nothing. I begged for him with every fibre of my being. “Please, Link! Goddess…!” His palms grazed over my rigid thighs, exacerbating my need for him further yet. “Ohh…” I whimpered. “Oh, Link… Please, I want it so badly—!”

I nearly opened my eyes when I was jerked forward by my ankles. He slung my legs over his lowered shoulders, causing my hips to come up off the edge of the bed.

Then he outright impaled me on his blade.

A visceral gasp tore its way out of my throat. “Link!” I cried, my whole body hardening and my hands grasping the sheets with all I was worth. A quiet curse left his mouth followed by my name. He thrusted into me again, at which he released an obscene groan from the bottom of his throat. Something in him had been let loose from its chains. He was a beast. There was something beyond wild about the way he snapped his hips into me over and over. I found myself unable to hold back the raw sobs of devastating bliss that had built up, made broken and uneven by the sheer force of his movements. I cried out with a particularly well-placed hit. I was astonished at how quickly he had me teetering on the edge. He started pounding into me with reckless abandon. He knew I was close. I fell limp in is strong arms, letting myself succumb to my climax.

“Zelda—!” he choked.

At the precise moment I went over the edge, he came with me. He howled out an expression of pure ecstasy, which I answered. I felt myself close in around him. His thrusts halted, his length buried to the hilt, before he continued at a slower pace, pulsing deep inside me and pouring in every last drop of his orgasm. I’d nearly forgotten this feeling. It was like having our first time all over again.

Slowly, he pulled himself out. Then came the familiar sensation of his warm, creamy release dripping down between my legs. After lowering me down and placing me properly back on the bed, he finally collapsed onto the space beside me, breathing hard. I opened my eyes. For the first time since the fall of Hyrule, I was seeing him laid out right in front of me with all the evidence of his unspeakable suffering put out on display. I supposed my body was simply too exhausted to put itself through another episode; all that resulted was a lump in my throat and a wet film over my eyes. I heaved a watery sigh.

He turned his head to face me just as I was reaching my hand out to feel his scarred skin. “Oh…” His face fell when his gaze landed on my own. Then, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I smiled for him, drying my unshed tears. “I’m fine.”

He combed his fingers through my hair and gazed straight into my—probably red and puffy—eyes. He gave a cleansing exhale, after which the corners of his mouth turned up gently. “Would you like to hear my side of…” he gestured to his battle-tempered body, “this?” I nodded. “Well…” He turned onto his side to face me, “I haven’t really told this to anyone else, but…I think my motivation for taking down Ganon was just the notion of being able to meet you, again.” His sideways smile was noticeably a bit self-conscious. My heart throbbed. “I wanted to remember you. And I did, in the end. For the most part. So, I guess, it wouldn’t be a lie if—“ he went cross-eyed for a moment, stuttering adorably, “w-what I’m saying, or _trying_ to say, is I mean it when I say that…everything that happened to me was well worth it.” He breathed a sigh of relief and embarrassment.

I couldn’t help but laugh from the affection bubbling up in my chest at his mess of a confession. Frustrated, he grabbed my cheek and my waist and pulled me in to join our lips together. I wasn’t sure if he noticed, but I secretly left one of my eyelids ajar. He’d once again assumed that deliberate, loving demeanour, pouring every ounce of his feelings into the way he kissed me. I smiled into it. After a hundred years, he still had an easier time conveying his feelings through his actions than he did through words.


	9. What Could Have Become of Us (T)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After countless battles and endless strife, Link watches helplessly as his worst fears unfold before his very eyes.

My weapon clattered limply onto the ground at my feet. I’d finally reached the heart of the castle, but something was terribly wrong. I’d overcome countless trials to reach this point. I’d eradicated each of Ganon’s blights from each of the divine beasts and freed all four of the champions’ spirits. But now, the reality that my efforts were all in vain was sinking in.

“Princess!” I nearly screamed. She couldn’t hear me, it seemed. All she did was stare back at me with lifeless eyes. The oozing, maroon liquid covering half her body convulsed like a twisted heartbeat. The stench in the air made me feel sick. “Oh, Goddess...” I choked. The sight of the princess—my dear princess, whom I’d sought for countless days and nights without rest while she’d singlehandedly held back the calamity for as long as she‘d been able—now being held captive and controlled like a puppet on a string was unbearable. I should have known from the way her words of encouragement had stopped ringing in my ears some time ago. And yet, why did it have to be her? How could I have let this happen?

She lurched toward me. I lurched back. I’d lost the reigns on my breathing, each exhale accompanied by a hoarse whimper. There were no weak points on her body that I could see, meaning there was no way for me to free her from this toxic prison. I was too late. There was only one way to save her now.

“No, I can’t...” I fell to my hands and knees. Tears were pouring down my face as she put another foot forward. “I can’t do it...!” My head was spinning out of control. It felt as though my heart would burst inside my ribcage if it were to pound any harder. My nails scraped into the earth. She kept advancing, and I could do nothing but kneel and tremble. I shrieked at the ashen ground out of sheer terror and rage and helplessness, and she continued to close in on me all the while. 

  
~ • ~

  
I snapped bolt upright. It was the middle of the night, maybe early morning, and I was back at home, in my bed. When I didn’t immediately feel her next to me, I went into panic. But then a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my middle. I whipped my head around. 

“Link, are you alright?”

When I heard her voice emerge from pitch darkness, all my grief came flooding back, then out again through my eyes. I’d had plenty of nightmares before and most of them I would just brush off. But the onslaught of emotions brought on by this one in particular stuck with me. I couldn’t shake the image of her reeking, corpse-like form. “I’m...sorry...” I sobbed, face buried in her bosom as her delicate hands stroked through my mess of hair. “I’m so sorry...” 

She hushed me softly, reclining and laying me on top of her. “It was only a dream,” she whispered repeatedly. Breathing in her familiar scent again did much to ease my nerves. I groped around blindly until my hands landed on her warm cheeks. There were no signs of corruption anywhere on her from what I could tell. “Link, I’m okay. It wasn’t real.” I went still. She kept rubbing my back in a soothing rhythm. Out of the good handful of memories I‘d accumulated from my former life, none of them were of her holding me in her arms like this while I forsook my mask and wept, like this. “Want to tell me what it was about?” 

I gave her a frail nod before realizing she couldn’t see me, so instead I mumbled the word, “Yeah,” in the shakiest tone imaginable. The entire time I was relaying my bloodcurdling visions to her, she never let go of me, and neither did I her. 

“The good thing is that it’s all over and we’ve sealed away that monster for good, so there’s no possible way for any of that to happen,” she reassured once I’d finished. “What’s going to happen now is we’ll go back to sleep for a few more hours, and then when we wake up, we’ll make honey crepes for breakfast. How does that sound?”

My eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, and I could see the contours of her precious, unforgettable smile. I nuzzled my nose into the crook of her shoulder. “I’d like that.”


	10. An Unlikely Encounter (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While confronted with an array of looming emotions brought on by Zelda, Link has a realization when he makes a new, four-legged friend.

“Oh, Link! Look who it is!” I turned my head to see a blur of brown and orange bounding right up to us from out of the brush. “Hello, again!”

I let out a frustrated groan. We’d been on our way back to Hateno after a short visit to Zora’s Domain, and this wild fox had been following us around for the last couple of hours at least. This was maybe the fourth or fifth time it had shown its face, after my many attempts to get it to leave us alone.

Zelda was crouched down in front of it, scratching its chin as it made obnoxious cackling noises up at her. “Awww, look at you!” It wiggled around on its back, and she smiled at it adoringly, ruffling its coarse, greyish underbelly. I watched the two in complete astoundment. “You’re just the sweetest thing, aren’t you?” she cooed whilst it gnawed viciously on her arm. “Yes, you are!”

We could’ve been back and preparing dinner by now if it hadn’t been for these past pointless encounters. “It’s persistent,” I muttered. “I’ll give it that much.”

She ignored me, however, in favour of the feral creature before her, who was still whining and chattering away. When she finally looked up at me, it was with pleading eyes and a slight pout. “Can we take him home with us?”

My jaw fell open. “Why?” I retorted. “It’s just an animal.”

“But look at him!” she cried. “Doesn’t it look like he’s suffering out here?” Its fur was rather matted in spots, and it did look a little skinnier than most other foxes I’d seen in the wild. Perhaps someone had been taking care of it up until recently, when they’d simply decided to leave it here to fend for itself. “Just—look into his eyes for a moment.” She angled the beast’s face in my direction. Its eyes were ink black, staring back at me with no discernible emotion. “Don’t you feel sorry for him at all?”

I didn’t see what good it would do us to treat an unintelligent thing like it was anything other than just that. Even so, I wasn’t immune to the heartfelt look of longing on her face. I knew she would be heartbroken if I gave her anything but my approval. She probably wouldn’t speak a word to me the whole rest of the way home.

I sighed in defeat. “I suppose there’s no harm.”

Her entire being lit up with joy. ”Oh, yes!” she cheered before leaping up and landing a surprise kiss on my lips. “We’ll take such good care of him, Link.” The canine in question was staring up at me, panting and wagging its fluffy tail while Zelda’s arms were still slung around my neck. I gave an awkward laugh. Her attention was already lost on the fox again before I could put my own arms around her waist. “What’s a good name, do you think?” she asked herself, scritching behind its ears. “What about...Farley?” The little ruffian squawked in reply, which Zelda seemed to interpret as agreement. “You like that, do you? Alright! Farley it is!”

I cleared my throat a tad less than subtly. “You know, we really should get going if we want to return before nightfall.”

~ • ~

A couple of weeks or so had passed since we’d gained another mouth to feed. Usually we’d only see the furry little fiend at the beginning and end of each day, when I would have to hunt down something for it to eat. Other than that, though, it wasn’t causing us a lot of trouble. It stayed outside at all times, as I’d requested, and Zelda had even gotten one of Bolson’s crew to build a little den for it to sleep in around the back of the house. It seemed quite comfortable here, and she seemed very pleased whenever we’d be greeted by its raucous yapping upon our return each and every evening. Truth be told, it made me happy seeing her in such a good mood for a change, regardless of who or what was to thank for it.

Today, however, I was anything but happy. In fact, the most prominent emotion weighing on my soul at the moment was loneliness. Today, Zelda had some errand or another to take care of in Gerudo Town, and she’d stubbornly insisted that I not accompany her, despite my having been there countless times already. Not only was it absurd, but this was the first time she’d ever asked this of me since the day we’d dedicated our hearts to one and other once again. I was at a loss for what to do.

After wandering outside for a while, I now found myself at an abandoned enemy fortress not far from the village. The princess’ pet had been on my heels since I’d given it breakfast earlier that morning, and it had followed me all the way here. I’d simply turned a blind eye to it; I didn’t have the patience to deal with its insatiable need for attention today.

I climbed up onto one of the barrels halfway up the haphazardly constructed scheme of platforms. The fox scurried up to where my feet hung off the rim. “What?” It tilted its head at me. “I just—” I woefully let my head fall into my palms, trying my hardest to collect myself. “I know...that she’s only being considerate of their culture, and that it’s ‘best that I stay out of the way,’” I paraphrased, “but...”

It placed its soot-besmirched paw against one of my shins, gazing up at me with big, round eyes.

I heaved a perturbed sigh. “I just spent so, so long  _ fighting _ to find her again, and now she’s—” The feeling of waking up to find her side of the bed empty that morning before remembering why came rushing back. I started biting at my lip. “It’s like I’m...lost without her,” I confessed. “Even when I know it’s just for one day.”

The fox’s soft whining almost seemed sympathetic in a way. I sat up a bit straighter, noticing its expression. One had to admit, if it were capable of experiencing emotions the way people did, it probably would’ve dealt with more than its fair share of neglect and betrayal by now.

Maybe this not-so-wild animal and I had more in common than I’d initially thought. 


	11. Fun in the Sun (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link and Zelda enjoy a serene summer’s day at the beach together.

My toes sank into ashen sand, warmed by the rays of the sun, as I strolled down Laverra Beach hand-in-hand with my champion. The swishing of palm leaves and the soft scraping of the tides against the shore filled the air.

I closed my eyes, feeling the gentle summer breeze against my face and breathing in the scent of the ocean. My mind was always so busy. Even my research had grown tiresome as of late. This little excursion, as suggested by Link, was just the ticket.

“Wait.” He let go of my hand. “I have an idea.” Before I could say anything, he threw off his shirt and trousers, leaving them in a pile on the sand. Now wearing nothing but his opal earrings, he charged into the water at full force. When he bobbed back up to the surface, he turned toward me. “Are you coming or what?”

A hearty laugh left my lungs. I wasn’t all that shocked. I’d seen him naked before, and there were no other people around. We had the area all to ourselves. So what else was there to do but follow his lead?

Having folded my skirt and blouse neatly beside his heap, I leapt into his open arms, and he spun me around in the air. I yelped in delight, and he grinned blindingly up at me.

The calm waves were cool against my bare skin, a pleasant contrast to the heat of the sun. I didn’t bother with keeping my hair out of the water—now that it was short, it wouldn’t take long to dry—as we splashed around and made play. Strangely enough, I felt like a child again, though I’d never even had this much fun growing up.

“I love you,” I smiled, kissing him on his salty lips.

“I love you too.” He held my face between his palms, eyes brimming with warmth. Then he put his lips on mine and brought my body close to his.

I swooned, draping my arms over his broad shoulders and feeling myself melt in his embrace. His hand drifted languidly along the curve of my back. I felt a heat beginning to pool in my abdomen, becoming acutely aware of the lack of obstruction between my own exposed form and his. But just before passing the venereal threshold of my hips, he halted.

His lips departed from mine, causing me to frown. “What?” I pouted. “What’s wr—” But he cut me off, slapping a hand over my mouth. He seemed distracted.

And then I heard what sounded like a high-pitched croaking sound coming from farther along the coastline.

Link was already marching away before I’d even fully picked up on it. “Hey!” I trudged after him. “Where do you think you’re—”

“Shh!”  He’d cut me off yet again, glaring at me over his shoulder. Then he motioned for me to come closer. With a scoff and a roll of my eyes, I obeyed. Once I was at his side, I followed his eyes to where I could see a moderately sized, fish-shaped structure coming up out of the water. “Porgy-gorged pricks,” he spat under his breath. The scaled individuals he was referring to were three in number, parading around the vicinity of their camp without a care in the world.

This wasn’t good. I knew that perilous glint in his eye all too well. “Just let them be,” I pleaded and grabbed his wrist. “They won’t bother us if we keep our distance.”

“Zelda,” he addressed in feigned solemnity, laying a hand against my cheek, “you and I both know that peace has never been an option.”

I raised a hand out to him, but it was already a lost cause. Not even bothering to put on his clothes first, he trekked a fair distance down the beach away from me. Raising his fingers to his mouth, he let out the loudest whistle that had ever assaulted my ears towards the encampment.

The green one heard him. It slithered through the water in his direction, then leapt onto shore.

He took advantage of its momentum and pinned it down to the sand, his powerful legs straddling its back. Then my jaw dropped in horror as he took the poor creature by the tongue and used it to wring its own neck.

He didn’t even stop to breathe before diving into the water, slicing through it at mind-boggling speeds. 

The other lizalfi must not have witnessed the petrifying events that had just taken place on the bank; they still intended to put up a fight. But Link had little difficulty dispatching them.

The one nearest him lashed its tail out. He grabbed onto it mid-swing and hurled it at its comrade.

He didn’t give them a chance to regain their footing.

While they were still in a heap, he tore one of their heads clean off its shoulders, using nothing but his bare hands. He kicked the still wriggling carcass off the deck and into the water, along with its head. 

The one that was left, too mortified to even look the blond beast in the eye, turned tail and swam for dear life.

He returned to shore while I stood there in a combination of fear, concern, and arousal. My cheeks heated up, and I shook away the image of his toned form arching over me, trapping me between his thighs. It wasn’t that I thought he couldn’t handle a couple of oversized lizards. Quite the opposite, in fact. I just didn’t see the point in initiating needless confrontation. Perhaps Link viewed it as simply an act of defending his land for the benefit of all.

“Ahh, that felt good,” he grunted, cracking his wrists and debunking my optimistic, little theory. “Now,” he grinned beckoningly, “shall we carry on where we left off?”


	12. Late-Night Reminiscence (G)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fed up with Link’s reckless and dangerous antics, Zelda expresses her concern regarding his behavior.

“Do you remember that time when you tried to teach me how to tame a wild horse?”

My query was met with silence, the one it was intended for simply rolling onto his other side and turning his back to me.

“I suppose it was lucky that all I came out of that with was a bruise. You sure seemed relieved at that.” He moaned his dreary agreement. “Honestly, only someone as reckless as you are could ever have so much experience in wrangling wild horses.” I let my smile falter for a few seconds. “Ooh, speaking of reckless, what about that time when you tried shield surfing down Mt. Lanayru?” I chortled. “‘It’ll be fun!’ you said. Then you did it and your shield split in two after, what, ten seconds? Then you probably barrel-rolled downhill for at least a minute. I couldn’t even see you after a while. I was so worried about you.”

“Zelda…”

Link flopped onto his back, keeping his eyes closed. “Yes…?”

He turned his head to face me, his eyes opening just a crack. “Aren’t you tired?”

I opened my mouth to answer his question, but then it became apparent that there was no simple answer. No, I wasn’t tired, not even a little. But if I’d admitted that, he’d no doubt have responded with, “Why not?” Then I’d have to explain the reason to him, and I didn’t want to put him through all that. I wasn’t his mother.

But then he raised a concerned hand up to my forehead. Some of the sleepiness in his eyes had faded, replaced with worry. The expression he’d shown me time and time again throughout the years was making another appearance.

I sighed in frustration. “You’re always like this.” He took his hand back and tucked it into his chest. “Always fussing over my wellbeing and safety, but never once stopping to consider your own.” I tried to lower my tone a bit as he seemed almost alarmed at my sudden accusations. I heaved a deep breath before continuing. “Does it ever occur to you that I care about you too, and might even worry about you from time to time? It’s like you’re trying to live every day as if it’s your last…”

He smiled disdainfully. “I suppose you’re right.” I questioned him in silence, and he reacted with panic. “Wait, no, that’s not what—“

“No. I understand.” He stopped, the furrow in his brow more relaxed. “You’ve already lost your life once, after all. It makes sense that you want to make up for all the time that’s been lost. But…” A sigh caught in his throat before he breathed it out, his lips tightening. “But if you keep acting like this, throwing yourself into danger without a second thought…and if something happened to you, I-I would never forgive myself.” Tears began gushing from my eyes at the horrifying memory of that day. “I’ve already failed to protect you once. If that happens again…”

Link gathered my crumbling, weakened self close to his heart. He whispered the words, “I’m sorry,” over and over again, his warm embrace never faltering.

I buried my face into his tunic, which smelled of grass and chickaloo tree nuts. It reminded me of the nut cake he’d sweetly baked for us that morning. Link… What I wouldn’t have given to spend the rest of time by his side, traveling to new places and returning home to our little cottage in the mountains at the end of each day. To think that one day, all of that could come to an abrupt end, was too much to bear.

Once my sobbing had died down, my gentle knight angled my head up to look me in the eyes. He dried my tears, grazing his calloused thumbs softly against my cheeks. Remorseful affection was embedded deep into his eyes, which shined a thousand shades brighter than sapphires. “I never meant to make you worry.” He placed his lips on mine as if they were made of glass. “Your happiness matters more to me than anything,” he uttered against my lips. “More than anything…”

“Do you promise not to be so reckless from now on?” I asked after he’d broken our kiss only to place another on the crown of my head.

“Of course, my love.”


	13. Sheikah Slave (E)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being ignored for a bit longer than he would have prefered, Link reclaims Zelda’s attention by force, and he does so in a rather creative way.

“Mmh, Link...” sang my little songbird, squirming at the sensation of the tip of my tongue tracing the troughs and ridges of her ear. I had her perched on my lap as my fingers snuck beneath the folds of her blouse. The warm, cushy feel of her bare skin against my palms was intoxicating as ever, her scent making my head swim with carnal desires.

She adored being teased. This I knew from experience. It had nearly been a year since the sealing of Calamity Ganon. Zelda was still as dedicated to her restoration project as she had been from the start, and I was equally so in supporting her efforts. That being said, one would expect that free time would seldom be allotted to us. However, this indeed was not the case, which was the reason we spent the majority of our time on expeditions and adventures out in the wild. As much as she wished to focus on bringing Hyrule back to its former glory, she still couldn’t resist the pull of her inherent curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

“Ahh, n-not so hard...” she winced at a particularly harsh nip to the neck. I quickly made the adjustment of going from biting to sucking, which she seemed to prefer with the way she purred in satisfaction.

Today, she had planned for us a trip to the ruins of Lanayru Promenade; more specifically, Dow Na’eh Shrine which was located in a small grotto in the wall of the crumbling structure. Just like with the many,  _ many _ other shrines we’d visited in the past few months, she was more than eager to make new discoveries. But alas, I could no longer reciprocate her elation. After seeing the same thing eighty two separate times previously, I’d grown unbearably bored of such endeavours. On top of that, my little angel seemed to be looking at me less and less often nowadays, favouring her prized hand-held device more than anything else. So today, I was determined to turn things around. In record time, I had her hot, bothered, and stripped of all clothing atop the linen tarps that she’d initially laid out for the collection of artifacts.

Her dainty digits raked through my untamed mane, nails scraping against my scalp and making my whole body tingle. “Take this off.” She tugged at the neckline of my tunic. “Please, I just want to see you. I’ll keep my hands to myself, I promise.” After a year, she’d become fully desensitized to the sight of my scarred constitution, much to my relief. As such, I graciously complied to her wish. 

Lying on her back with her legs fixed apart by my body, her tummy caved in with tension when my mouth began to venture between her perfect breasts. “Does that feel good?” I breathed against one of her hardened tits, rolling the other between the fingers of my free hand. She nodded. “Tell me what you want, Zelda.”

“I want you,” she whimpered.

“Yeah? You do?” 

“Mhmm...” She bit her lip.

“Tell me how desperate you are for me to pound you into the ground right now.”

“Goddess, I  _ need _ that, Link...” she whined through gritted teeth, fingers clawing at the back of my neck. “I need you so badly. Please...!”

Her unfiltered begging put a smirk on my face. But it wasn’t to last. I felt something brush up against my abdomen suddenly. The instant I turned my attention downwards, she retracted her hand, turning bright red.

“I said I’d keep my hands to myself...” she talked back in a timid tone.

I shook my head in feigned disappointment. “Just for that,” I scoffed, slinking down toward the region from which her hand had just retreated, “I’m afraid you’ll have to wait even longer.”

Her whole body seized up as my lips brushed her tender underbelly on their downward journey, and she gasped when my hot breath hit her drenched entrance. I stayed where I was for a moment, trailing my fingertips along the silky skin of her inner thigh. Then I ran a long, tedious stripe up the length of her untouched crevice with my tongue, drawing out an equally long mewl from the back of her throat. I groaned at the taste. Truly a treat fit for a king. It was difficult to restrain myself from devouring her completely right then and there, especially with the delicious tremors of her legs and shaking propulsions of her hips. 

“Link...!” she choked once I started letting my tongue wander north to her clit. “Oh, please...”

I peeked my head up from betwixt her shivering thighs. “‘Please’ what?” I grinned. Her staggered whines in response as she looked at me through a haze of unadulterated lust and wantonness landed a fatal blow on my conviction to go on torturing her as I had been. I knew what she needed, and I could no longer in good conscience keep it from her.

Her eyes conveyed her anxious anticipation as I aligned the tip of my blade with her awaiting lips. I started slow—the way she preferred me to as I’d learned early on—then gradually picked up the pace. She pulled me in closer to capture my tongue with her own, her constant moans never ending.

In the midst of our heated embrace, however, I was struck with an idea. I pried my lips away from hers. “Wait.”

Her eyes opened, and she squeaked out a fretful, “What? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing like that...” My eyes had locked onto her satchel, which was leaning forward to reveal an opening beneath the flap that sealed it shut. It was just wide enough to show the light of the Sheikah slate peaking out.

Gently, I lowered one of her legs and withdrew myself from her, still solid as the ground on which we lay. I reached for her satchel and pulled out the slate. Its light swelled as if to express my own excitement. “Erm, Link...?”

“No worries, love,” I ascertained, scrolling through the selection of runes on the screen. “I’m...fairly sure this won’t hurt too much.” Finally I found the one I was after. I slung her leg over my shoulder once again.

“Okay... But what—”

She froze in place. The instant I enacted stasis, its chains of golden light latched onto her, shackling her at the wrists, ankles, and neck.

The slate commenced its countdown. Zelda’s body was firm, immovable, still soft to the touch, yet unyielding to pressure. Her dripping mouth still gaped open in invitation. With no time to test the waters, I thrusted in head first. My hips moved like lightning, my shaft snapping in and out of her as deeply and as rapidly as I could manage. The percussive pulse of the timer picked up its pace, and I pushed myself to do the same, until the very last second.

The chains were reduced to dust, which then blew away and dissolved into nothing, all in a matter of seconds. Zelda’s body quaked and she let out a broken caterwaul. I stopped. All at once, the pressure that had been building deep within her core had been released and dropped on her, all according to plan. “Are you alright?” She was still reeling, fluttering weakly with every exhale. She nodded shakily. I could only imagine the amount of bliss she was in at that moment.

“Could you...” she gasped, clenching around my cock like she was already teetering on the brink of euphoria. “Could you do that again?”

I smiled, not saying a word as I pulled out until, “Would you like to be on top this time?” She nodded again, this time more urgently but with a red haze resting in her cheeks. It was adorable. I leaned in and kissed away her needless shame.

Her strangled wail from before echoed against the walls of my mind as she positioned her hips above mine. I wanted to make her scream, more than anything.

My tip aligned with her open cleft, I delved into her. For some reason (probably being that I‘d been so focused on how it had felt for her), I hadn’t allowed myself to truly drown in the feeling of her slick heat wrapped around my shaft until now. When it finally hit me, my hips halted in place. “Shit...” My body was on fire. She suddenly had me close to becoming undone just as I had her. Must have been the angle. I swallowed back a whimper, losing control of myself for a fleeting moment.

I would reach my end before she if I kept going as I had been. So I picked the slate back up and began the sequence over again. This time, I reached between her legs to clumsily play with her clit as I plowed into her from below. Without the additional input of her contorting expressions and enthralling voice, I managed to reign in my orgasm for the time being. There was still a long ways left to go.

Unlike before, I didn’t stop when time ran out. “Ah! Link,” she choked, “I— _ ah-haahhhh!!” _ Hurtling over the edge, she tightened around me to the point where it was a challenge to push in and out of her steadily. Her clipped whines did not cease and her pull on my hair didn’t let up for perhaps a quarter of a minute. All the while, I struggled to hold it in so desperately as she came apart on top of me. “Link...” she drawled, breathing heavily and letting her body collapse. She was still shivering. “Oh... Goddess...”

I cradled her in my arms for a spell, saying to her in a hushed tone, “You seemed to enjoy that quite a bit, didn’t you, Princess?” She nodded, her little nose rubbing up against my chest and making my heart swell. Then I grinned, slipping out from beneath her, and whispered, “Then you’ll be glad to hear me say it isn’t over yet.”

She stiffened when I arched my body over hers, taking hold of a few tendrils of her hair and tugging lightly. “Link, wait,“ she stuttered whilst I hoisted her hips up in the air. “I-I just finished. What‘re you— _ nghh!” _

She cried out in unabashed shock and pleasure. She was so unbelievably tight. Her palms grasped at the tarps beneath us until her knuckles turned white as I bottomed out inside of her over and over, feeling her gulping me in without restraint. I tossed my head back, my stifled moans creating perfect harmony alongside hers.

_ “Link!”  _ she nearly wept. “It’s...too mu—a-ahh!” Her pre-coital contractions sent surges of electricity through me, reminding me abruptly of my original intention. Before it was too late, I put her in chains for what I knew was going to be the last time.

With every ounce of strength left in my body, I drove it home.

Time was up before I’d even realized, and she came back to life with by far the most intense response yet. Her voice cracked as she screamed out in utter ravishment, clenching around me harder than ever before with buckets of my release pouring into her one wave after another. The sound of liquid spattering against fabric hit my ears. I opened my eyes to see streams of a beautifully glistening substance spilling forth from betwixt her faltering legs. The sight prolonged my high even more. By the end, I’d filled her up so much, she’d reached the point of overflowing even before I’d fully removed myself from her thoroughly abused core.

“Such a naughty girl,” I chided softly into her ear, my hands roving up and down her sides and coming dangerously close to her chest. “Look at the mess you’ve made.” She shivered vocally against the grazing touch of my fingertips, her hips falling to the ground as she rolled onto her side to gaze up at me.

Some of her fluid had made its way onto my fingers as I‘d been petting her through her second spasm. I made sure she was watching before raising my hand to my lips for a taste—even richer and sweeter than usual. I licked and sucked my digits clean, paying close attention to the way she writhed under my stare. “Curse you,” she whimpered under her breath.

“Aww,” I laughed teasingly, peppering her with kisses all over her pretty face. “You don’t really mean that, do you?”

She shook her head and smiled. “Of course not. You’re just incredible.”

“So does this mean you’ll be giving me more attention from now on?”

Her eyes popped open and her lips formed an ‘O’ shape. “Is that what this was about? I’m sorry, Link, I—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I cut her off, laying a sloppy yet tender kiss onto her lips. With a cheeky wink, I added, “Just, for the future, let’s call this a lesson learned, shall we?”


	14. The Wolf Prince (E)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although constantly kept apart by their duties, Queen Zelda and General Link decide to take a load off after a long week full of dreadful ordeals.

I’d lost count of the minutes that had gone by whilst I watched the drapes of my window swish back and forth in the frigid night breeze. My eyes were well adjusted now to what little light was seeping through. So when I propped myself up to light the candle at my bedside, I squinted.

Although midnight was long gone, and the past week had been dreadfully brutal and demanding, I just couldn’t keep my eyes shut. There were so many little thoughts and fears nibbling at my mind, and for the life of me, I could not get them to stop. 

So, after changing out of my night clothes and into something a bit more befitting of a queen, I stepped out of my quarters and into the halls of the castle with candlestick in hand.

My worries mostly revolved around my latest political project: the legalization of ancient Sheikah technology being put into common use. I had the support of my fellow researchers and enthusiasts, who believed the tribe members had a right to their ethnic heritage and that the utilization of their ancestors’ knowledge would prove highly beneficial to society. However, many members of the council still stubbornly disagreed, rebutting with points once made by the king who had put the ban in place ten thousand years ago.

Of course, they refused to acknowledge the fact that if it weren’t for these “unholy contrivances” that they so detested, the Great Calamity would still be upon us.

Eventually I arrived at the library. I’d figured finding a good book to read would help to pull me out of my never-ending vortex of vexation. I’d reached the end of the one I’d been reading on nights like this, but in my haste, I’d left it back in my quarters, and there was no chance of me going all the way back up there now that I’d made it all the way here.

With an agitated sigh, I traipsed toward the fiction section. Although I normally preferred to read about facts over fairytales, the latter had proven to be a wonderful remedy for insomnia. I found comfort in the act of losing myself in the imaginary life of a captivating protagonist. The last book I’d read was a collection of poems and short stories written by an author whose name had been lost to the sea of time. Tonight, I was in the mood for something a bit heavier, something I could really bite my teeth into. As my eyes glossed over the shelves, the words,  _ “The Wolf Prince,” _ etched upon a nude, leather spine, caught my attention. I didn’t recognize the title, so I stood up on my tiptoes to reach up and slide it off the shelf.

I’d hardly had time to sit down at a table and turn to the first page when loud footsteps clamoured throughout the halls. It was Link.

He didn’t seem to take notice of me as he clumped down the stairs and scuffed toward the library’s archive of various confidential documents. He had an air of irritability in his step. I returned my attention to the book in front of me, thinking it best to leave him be.

When he emerged from the archive a few moments later, it was with a stack of papers in his hands and an acute sharpness in his brow. But his expression softened when his eyes met mine. “Zelda.”

“Yes, Sir Link?” I coyed.

He unceremoniously dropped the pile onto the table, somehow keeping it all in one piece. “What are you doing here?” he chided, taking a seat beside me. “It’s after hours.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I shrugged. “I just can’t get the results of the last council meeting out of my mind, and it’s driving me mad.”

“Ah...” His lips formed a straight line in a show of sympathy.

“What about you?”

“Well...” His eyes flitted in the direction of the documents he’d retrieved. From the looks of it, they were military records. “Recently I’ve received reports from down south of another large-scale moblin attack, greater than anything the Kolomo soldiers have had to face.” He was gnawing on his bottom lip, which he tended to do whenever something was bothering him. “It’s like the beasts never give up,” he seethed. “I’ve sent for reinforcement, but I’m worried what this might grow into.”

“I’m sure you needn’t worry about it too much.” I reached for his hand in an effort to ease his stress, but his glove was in the way, so I elected to relieve him of it as well. “You’ve dealt with far greater threats in the past.”

“I know.” His head hung from tense shoulders, the fabric of his uniform gathering around his neck. “I just wish I could go and take care of it myself.”

His gaze landed where my hand was wrapped around his. His eyes were burning a hole right through both of our palms. I began to feel the heat of his stare seep through my veins and disperse throughout my body. He looked up, and our eyes met. I swallowed thickly. 

Finally, the ropes snapped.

His hands were entwined in my hair, and my tongue between his lips. I whined into his mouth, his nails scraping along my scalp and making me shiver helplessly. All of a sudden, he wasn’t nearly close enough. He couldn’t be, no matter how far I leaned into him. Our kisses were hard, heavy, and  _ loud _ _,_ each labial click ricocheting between the looming arches of the library.

His hands were prowling their way down my neck, but stopped where my hem met my collarbone. He paused, looking less than pleased. “Why in Hylia’s name did you feel the need to dress so...excessively?”

“I couldn’t just come down here in my night gown, could I?” I huffed. 

He gave a reluctant tilt of the head. “I can see that.” Then he tucked his strong arms under my arse—beneath my skirts—and hoisted me up in the air.

“Link!” 

One of my shoes slipped and struck the tile floor. I buried my face in his velveted shoulder, appalled at the volume of my own surprised yelp amplified by the acoustic architecture.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. There were so many things going on at once, it was a task in and of itself just to focus on one of them. It had my head spinning. One moment, he was pinning me up against one of the bookcases on the wall. The next, he was aligning himself with my fully exposed entrance.

Then he plowed into me without restraint. 

My mouth fell open in a contorted gasp. His head lulled back.

My parched lips burned with the sudden friction of his rigid shaft. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes at the sharp impact at the back of my rapidly narrowing chamber. My whole body went taut, and I wanted to scream.

Yet in spite of the pain, I found myself craving more of it.  _ Yes. _ There was something unmistakably cathartic about this feeling.

My hands grappled at the hair tucked away under his beret, fumbling desperately to find some kind of bearing as he tore my top over my head, then practically ripped my blouse in half in unbuttoning it. He barraged my breasts—now free from all constraint—with his lips and tongue. A growl rose up like molten rock from the bottom of his throat. I groaned shamelessly with a wanton rock of my hips. The burning sensation had levelled off, and now he was gliding in and out of me with ever the more ease.

“Ohh, Gods...” was the sigh that dribbled from my lips, just loud enough to be heard over the constant rattling of the bookcase’s glass doors. “H-harder...” I whimpered.  _ “Please,  _ don’t you dare hold back...!”

And hold back he didn’t. This new rhythm he’d found had him hitting quicker and deeper than ever before. His breaths were clipped and unsteady, his grip on my thighs vicelike. Each vertebra of my spine was grinding against the glass through what little clothing was left on my back. With every jolt of his hips, it grew more and more difficult for me to remain stable.

Eventually he slowed to a stop, still submerged in his entirety in my dripping interior. “Damn...” he tisked.

“What’s the matter?”

He shook his head, chest heaving. “This...this won’t do.”

He swerved my body around, taking me by surprise. Then my heart missed a beat when he let one of my legs slip out of his grip.

Pandemonium broke out again after a brief moment of stillness. Pages flew off the table we’d been sitting at earlier. He gripped me by the waist, spinning me around and forcing me onto my elbows. Then he drove his cock between my parted thighs yet again. 

The slick, wet sounds of skin against skin, now unobstructed by those of clanking hinges, were utterly obscene. I choked back a sob as he gave my hair a firm yank, making my neck bend backward. “Link—!” I gulped. He said nothing.

The last time he’d taken me with such brute force had been years ago, back when he’d still been more animal than human.

I twisted my trunk around to get a look at him. His jaw was jutted out in a raw snarl, pupils blown out in a betrayal of deep, voluptuous wrath. I clenched around his girth.

His free hand reached around my middle, bearing down on my navel on his way to where I hadn’t realized I’d needed him so badly. A high-pitched sigh left my open mouth as he began stroking. I’d long given up on keeping quiet at this point, but now, I’d truly lost all control. The feeling was just  _ so much.  _

In no time flat, I was already at euphoria’s doorstep.

We were both reduced to the likenesses of wild dogs; I was panting and whining whilst he growled headily into my ear. I felt dizzy, breaths stunted and not enough. Each jerk of his hips was harder and deeper and faster than the last, contrasting his fingers which continued on at their own steady and unrelenting pace. By now, I’d completely lost my ability to distinguish pain from pleasure. My knuckles turned white, hands clamped around the table’s edge. I was so close, I could almost taste it at the back of my tongue. I fell still, feeling myself be overtaken by him again and again and again, until finally, I’d reached my limit.

I surrendered my body to bliss. It came over me in an immense wave that had my head swimming. It seemed to last an eternity. Link was clinging to my back, his thrusts suddenly sloppy and arrhythmic. He held his breath, gasping for air as the wave came crashing down upon him as well.

After several endless moments, my climax subsided, and I was left with a wonderfully full feeling between my fluttering legs. He stayed inside of me for a short while longer, collapsed on top of me in exhaustion. My knees hit the floor, but I was too delirious to mind the weight.

“You needed that, didn’t you?” he breathed after some time had passed.

“Mhmm...”

His lips found purchase on the nape of my neck. “Me too.”

Another few moments went by, and he removed himself from my throbbing heat. I clamped my legs together out of instinct. But I soon realized, albeit reluctantly, that we had cleaning servants for a reason. It was beyond any doubt that we’d woken up the whole castle already. So I flopped over onto my back, letting his warm fluid flow out and pool into a puddle on the polished wood beneath me. 

Link watched with heavy eyes. A soft smile crept onto his face as he whispered, “It’s fine.”

I nodded and mirrored his smile, glad that he’d returned to his familiar, carefree self. Then I let my head fall back, too tired to keep it raised any longer. My whole body ached, and I was sure I’d be covered in bruises come morning. “Let’s go to bed.”

With an enthralling air of gallantry, he scooped me back up into his arms. “Agreed.”


	15. Sunrise (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten long years after her return to the land of the living, the queen of Hyrule takes her first steps out of her comfort zone with her groom’s hand in hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was writing the flashback, I was listening to Mahler’s Symphony No. 9: Adagio (AKA the piece that the black cat with the long neck listens to). I recommend giving it a listen when you read that part. :)

“Tighter.”

I suffered through my struggle to breathe as my lady’s maid tightened my corset to its limits. This was for an occasion that would occur once and never again. If ever had there been a time when I’d needed to look my absolute best, it was now.

My eyes constantly kept returning to the clock on the wall. There was only one hour left before the ceremony was scheduled to commence. I wasn’t even at the Temple of Time, and yet I already felt close to fainting. I looked in the mirror, and I still had the waist width of an obese hynox. “Honestly, can’t you make it any tighter?” I snapped. 

“Your Majesty, please try to remain calm,” pleaded one of my maids. I nodded; she was right. I was really letting my stress get the best of me. “My deepest apologies if I’m speaking out of line, but, ehm...I feel it necessary to mention something that your lover spoke to us about.”

When had Link possibly found the time to seek out my own group of personal attendants to tell them something? “Not at all. Go on.”

“Yes. He told us to put your comfort at the highest priority rather than your appearance. He said, quote, ‘Today will only come once, so it’s imperative that her memory of it is not plagued by discomfort.’ He was quite insistent about it, I tell you.”

My heart fluttered. It was just like him to go out of his way like that for my sake. I swallowed my pride. “Very well.”

“Would you like me to loosen your corset then?”

“Yes, please. Thank you.”

~ • ~

I’d recently been blessed with the rare opportunity to be freed from my royal responsibilities for a few days. This was something that only happened for me once or perhaps twice a year. Luckier still, Link had managed to secure a week-long leave from his duties as general of the Calamity Defence Brigade in conjunction with my time off. Since it had been ages since we’d had the chance, we decided to go on a proper adventure like we’d used to in the days when our kingdom had still been in its early stages of restoration. I suggested we spend our few days of freedom in Kakariko Village to pay a long overdue visit to our old friends who lived there, and he proposed that we set out on a hiking trip as well just to make things more exciting and to get outside for a change.

However, I‘d neglected to discern that ‘hiking trip,’ in Linkish, translated to ‘long and arduous climb up a near vertical mountain range.’ It was now an hour or so past midnight, and the two of us were making our way up the side of the cliff just south of Lanayru Road. As one might expect from someone who’s spent roughly the last half decade cooped up in the castle and filling out scroll after scroll of political documents, I was remarkably out of shape. My partner, however, was just as full of energy as he’d been in those olden days, scrambling up the rocky hills with ease. Even by the time we’d reached a level where he was able to stand and walk, I was still trudging along on all fours, barely able to carry my own weight. The gracious gentleman he was, he offered to carry me on his back for a ways when he saw what a sad state I was in. 

Not long after I’d recovered strength enough to walk on my own, I started to feel a chill in the air. It was already quite cold to begin with on account of the high altitude, but now my snowquill tunic was beginning to fail me. I stiffened, watching my breath come out in billowing puffs of fog. With Link just a few steps ahead, he looked over his shoulder and came to a stop, nearly causing me to walk straight into him. He smiled mysteriously.

I turned in the direction he faced and spotted the cause of the sudden drop in temperature. In the distance, but steadily drawing nearer, was none other than the spirit Naydra. My eyes probably looked like they were ready to pop out of my skull in that moment.

Before I could fully grasp the situation, he’d already begun retrieving his paraglider from his bag, which he’d propped up against one of the monumental stone pillars dotting the hillside. “Hold onto me.” He held his hand out, holding both handles of the glider in the other. The dragon of ice and snow continued her rapid approach. “Zelda, quickly!” I rushed to his side. He hooked his arm around my waist, and I clung to him tightly by his shoulders.

“Link, are you sure this— _ahh!”_

A biting gust of wind came our way, and then the feeling of solid earth beneath my feet vanished.

I cried out in terror as he and I were swept upward. I’d used a paraglider before—I even had one of my own—but I’d never considered the thought of sharing one with another. And yet, to my surprise, we were still alive. I summoned the courage to open my eyes, and the moment I did, I was mesmerized. 

Naydra was gliding around the two of us, encapsulating us in a vortex created by her flowing, river-like body that shined in a brilliant array of colours the likes of which I’d never beheld up close before. Silently, I gazed up at Link, whose cheeks were coral-coloured from the cold and whose locks danced about his face in the breeze. He wore the serene expression of one who’d had many a chance to experience this sort of thing, but was still just as awestruck as he’d been the first time. Despite the arctic winds nipping at me constantly through my clothes, feeling his arm around my waist holding me fast to his familiar frame filled me to the brim with a tangible sense of warmth and safety.

Naydra guided us with her winds to the top of the stone pillar, and I relaxed at the feeling of the ground beneath me, which was covered in iridescent blue flowers of all different kinds. The spirit of wisdom looked at us with respect in her ancient eyes. Link’s arm stroked up and down my back passively, still wrapped around my waist. Her icy breath touched my face gently and gracefully before she turned and disappeared into the sky.

“Zelda...?”

I turned around in his hold and bumped noses with him on accident, making us both crack a smile. I hadn’t quite finished laughing when he cupped my face and touched his lips to mine. Our embrace lasted an age. A symphony of strings had burst into song deep within my heart. It almost felt like we’d left the ground again as the sound of the wind caressing the flora flew into my ears.

When we parted, he touched his forehead softly to my own. I mirrored his blissful smile, whispering an, “I love you,” and laying my palm over his hand which rested against my cheek.

“I love you,” he echoed. Behind him, the sky was awash with tears of the Goddesses. Down below, the lights of the village shined just as brilliantly. I no longer felt any hint of the cold. 

Link let go of me and knelt down on one knee. He then reached into his pouch and pulled out a small box, which he opened to reveal a ring. My hand flew up to my parted lips.

“Will you be my wife?”

My eyes became damp with tears. Of course, there was only one answer. 

“Yes.”

~ • ~

Six tireless months of preparation had passed, and the ceremony was now underway. My whole body was more tense than the string of a bow. After an eternity of holding my breath as I waited outside in my carriage, watching the parade of participants walk one by one through the temple doors, my moment had arrived. I made my way up to the looming Doors of Time, and I peered in to see a grand sanctuary decked from one end to the other with stunning floral decor courtesy of Magda, a lovely lady Link had introduced me to with a passion for gardening and flower arrangement. At the far end on either side of the Goddess statue were our bridesmaids and groomsmen all standing in a row. At Her feet stood the priest and, in front of him, my soon-to-be husband whose jaw had dropped to the floor at the sight of me in my full regalia. 

I tried my best to keep breathing normally whilst I took in the vast number of attendees filling up the main floor and the gallery through my peripheral vision. They were all trusted friends of ours, of course. However, my level of acquaintanceship with them did not change the fact that most were important figures of society who held high expectations of me, the queen of Hyrule. It was with this in mind that I held my head high, staying vehemently focused on my posture and the way I put each foot in front of the other as I walked down the carpeted aisle. 

I held my bouquet in one hand and lifted the skirt of my dress with the other as I ascended the stairs leading to the altar, my train trailing gracefully behind me. I took my place beside Link and turned to face him, allowing him to remove my veil. It was subtle, but I’d without a doubt caught his lips forming the word, “Breathtaking.” I wanted to comment on how he looked equally as stunning in his regal, ivory attire accented by the various bits of gold decorating him from head to toe, but I’d save that for later.

At this time, the priest opened with the customary “Dearly Beloved” speech. I spotted the blur of court painter Pikango’s brush out of the corner of my eye. Although photographs were commonplace nowadays, I’d requested that he do a small-scale portrait of the ceremony with the reason being simply that Link and I were fond of his paintings.

Once the priest’s heartwarming introduction had reached its end, he looked to us and requested that we declare our vows to one and other. We’d worked out ahead of time that Link would go first. Yet if I could have predicted the true depth and authenticity of the words that were about to pass his lips, I would have taken the lead, for his vows would set the standard for my own far, far above what I could possibly meet.

“My dear Zelda,” he began in earnest,

“I still often find myself looking back on the days when I knew nothing but the sweet sound of your voice. In those days that I spent scouring the land for little scraps of my life from one hundred and ten years ago, the thought of seeing your face with my own eyes and hearing your voice with my own ears was what gave me comfort during sleepless nights. I may never regain most of my memories of our past relationship, but that no longer bothers me, because since then, I have made countless precious memories with you that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Like the time we spent living in our little house in Hateno Village, where every morning I would make us breakfast while you’d try and think up new ways to use me as a test subject for your research.”

This earned a collective chuckle from the audience and put a crooked smile on my face as I tried not to laugh. 

“Although I said, ‘Yes,’ when you first asked if I still loved you despite everything, I didn’t realize just how many things about you that I would later discover and fall in love with one by one: your brilliant mind, your kind and affectionate heart, and the true depth of your inextinguishable passion, just to name a few. These past years that I’ve spent by your side are what have shaped me into the man standing before you now. My hope for the future, as well as my promise to you, is that we will continue to set out on new adventures and forge new memories together for the rest of our days as husband and wife.”

To say his words had hit me straight in the heart would be an arrant understatement. It was all I could do to hold myself back from prematurely tossing by bouquet over my shoulder and kissing him to death right then and there. Instead, however, I retained my composure and proceeded to recite what I had prepared.

“Link,

“As you may have noticed, we are surrounded by silent princess flowers, a once rare breed that hadn’t yet found a place to thrive amongst civilization a century ago, but has now flourished into a prospering species that can be viewed from every window in this beautiful kingdom of ours. Now, since I know you’re already renowned for your role as the hero of Hyrule, I’ll talk about something a little more personal between you and me. And that something is that you’re not just a hero to Hyrule, but even more so to me. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never once left my side willfully and I’ve always been able to rely on you in times of need. It’s thanks solely to your undying support over the years that my dream of taking a fallen nation and rebuilding it into something greater than ever before has since blossomed into reality.”

It was around then when I looked up to see tears forming in his eyes. He nodded curtly, urging me to continue. 

“I promise to be there for you whenever you’re being too hard on yourself, and to turn to you for guidance when I do the same. I promise to remind you, when you lose sight of who you are, that you are perfect in every way no matter how many doubts you may have. I promise to always make time to spend with you, and to respect your need to be alone at times. And above all, I promise to you absolute love and trust, for although today marks the start to the rest of our lives together, I know it will not be enough time to spend with you.”

Link’s face was fixed in a sentimental smile that mirrored my own. He’d managed to hold back his tears, but it was clear to see how moved he was. Glancing around the room, I realized he and I weren’t the only ones who had gotten emotional.

With that, the time came for us to exchange rings and join hands.

“Link, please place Zelda’s ring on her fourth finger.” I raised my hand out, and he held it with the utmost care while he slipped the ring onto my extended finger. “Do you, Link, take Zelda to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in the good times and the bad, treating her as your equal for as long as you both shall live?”

He never took his eyes off me as he gave his answer. “I do.”

“Zelda, please place Link’s ring on his fourth finger.” I did as instructed, glad to hear the priest drop the honourifics for the occasion like I’d asked. Link’s ring fit perfectly on his slim, calloused finger as I put it on for him. “Do you, Zelda, take Link to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in the good times and the bad, treating him as your equal for as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Very good.” The priest closed his tome and placed it under his arm. “With that, by the power vested in me by the Goddess Hylia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may seal your vows with a kiss.”

Of course, we couldn’t just stay in our current positions and have a light, chaste kiss—absolutely not.

Link just had to set fire to all established formalities by sweeping me off my feet and dipping me almost to the point where I was parallel with the floor. Only then did he dive in for the kiss. Roaring applause ensued. Flower petals showered down from above. In the midst of all the excitement, I could’ve sworn I heard a stifled chuckle before someone mumbled the word,  “‘Seal,’” under their breath.

During the procession following the ceremony, my subjects—soon to be our subjects—were all lined up along the route to the castle, waiting to get a glimpse of the newlywed royal couple in their specially fashioned horse-drawn carriage. Upon arriving at our destination, the butterflies in my stomach began fluttering up a storm when I noticed the throngs of people that had gathered. For years, I’d hesitated announcing our relationship to the public for fear of their disapproval. But seeing their smiling faces and hearing their joyous cheers from the balcony filled me with hope. On top of that, the proud smile worn by my husband as he waved to the crowd from beside me was infectious.

The reception was spectacular, which only made it all the more terrifying. For the whole of the afternoon, the castle grounds were open to the lucky winners of a raffle that people from all over the world had been given the opportunity to participate in. To kick it off, Link and I each gave a brief speech encouraging guests to make merry and celebrate to their hearts’ content. From then on, the great hall was alive with music coupled by the din of friendly conversation, and every so often, the names and titles of new arrivals would be announced from the main entrance.

My aversion to large social gatherings like this was no secret to Link. If not for royal traditions, we both would’ve preferred to have a nice, simple wedding in the countryside and to keep our invitations limited to a select few of our closest friends. Even so, he would not accept my perfectly appropriate inclination to simply preside over the festivities from my throne. Instead, when people were beginning to partner up in the middle of the ballroom, he dragged me down one of the soaring flights of stairs by force straight into the heart of the crowd. Everything came to an abrupt halt. My stomach sank. Link, clearly pleased as punch to be the centre of attention, bowed and offered me his hand as if to say, “May I have this dance?” 

Given that all eyes were now glued to us, I was left with no choice but to digress and take his hand. The moment he drew me closer and placed his other hand on my waist, the orchestra raised their instruments and began playing, which prompted the dancers to begin dancing. The tumult of twirling and sidestepping and switching of partners that then ensued had my socially inapt head spinning.

At some point when Link and I were back in each other’s arms amidst the whirlpool of dancers, we’d gravitated toward the rim of the ballroom floor where a few steps led up to an expanse of tables and chairs beyond which stood a doorway leading outside. My partner was looking around the room with intent. I glanced over my shoulder to see whatever he had seen, but I was swept off to the side as soon as my head was turned.

Half of me was filled with relief to be away from prying eyes as I followed him to Hylia knew where. The other half was filled with doubt that our absence would go unnoticed for long. And the second half was prevailing over the first. He didn’t answer any of my continuous demands to know just where he was taking me. All he did was continue along on his happy-go-lucky way. Perhaps even he didn’t know where he was going. 

We hadn’t gotten far when we’d reached a small pavilion overlooking the castle gardens. He turned to face me with a worrying glint in his eye. “Wait, what are you doing?” He gripped my shoulders. “Link—”

Before I could get another word out, he backed me up into the banister and began slowly ravishing my mouth. I gave into him, my fingers weaving themselves into his modestly groomed locks out of habit. He drew away sooner than I’d anticipated, and my eyes fluttered open.

“Kissing my wife,” he finally answered, flashing that charming smile of his. My shoulders shook a little in laughter as I pulled him in for another kiss. He crooned happily, taking me by the waist. His hands roamed across the bodice of my gown, feeling every little intricacy embroidered onto its surface. “I must say,” he muttered, “I couldn’t have imagined something that‘d make you look so gorgeous.”

“Well, you really have the tailors to thank for all this,” I blushed, playing with the pleats of my elegant skirt. “I’m quite pleased with their work myself.”

“While it looks magnificent on you, darling,” he began, running a finger under where it scooped up and cupped my breasts, “I am looking forward to seeing you take it off later this evening.”

I pushed him away gently. “Stop it. Someone could hear—ah!” He grabbed my behind through my dress, without warning.

“Sorry,” he lied, snickering. “I just can’t help myself around you.” He gave me a quick kiss to the temple. I glowered at him, praying he’d get the message that this wasn’t funny to me anymore, but he paid no mind as he bent down and started hiking my skirt up my leg. My face burned as hot as the touch of his fingertips trailing up the skin of my thigh. I looked around frantically for anyone we might’ve been in plain sight of.

“Link,” I whined, “for the love of the Goddesses—“

“Hey, does anyone see the newlyweds about?” He and I both froze at Prince Sidon’s jolly and boisterous tones booming all the way from the great hall. “I figure it’s about time to roll out some old Hyrulian traditions!”

The next thing I knew, I was sat on a big throne that had been set up in the dead centre of the ballroom, and my groom was kneeling at my feet with an utterly victorious smirk on his face. Kass and the other musicians had stopped playing. All of the guests—every single one as well as some staff members—had gathered in front of us. I cursed Sidon under my breath, making Link’s grin grow wider. Everyone was cheering and whistling like they were watching the semiannual shield surfing tournament. I laughed halfheartedly, feeling humiliation sinking in.

With no hesitation, Link raised my right leg over his shoulder and ducked his head under my dress. I didn’t have time to react before I felt him nip gently at my inner thigh. I jumped, biting back a yelp. The audience hollered out in excitement. The ten seconds or so that it then took him to take my garter between his teeth and inch it along the length of my leg seemed like a century. When he emerged, he looked up at me with a sultry gaze that made my blood boil.

With the garter still in his mouth, he stood up and tossed it over his shoulder like a dog with a stick. This did me in. I erupted into uncontrollable bouts of laughter, and Link and the rest of the audience followed suit. Regrettably I was too hysterical to notice who had caught it.

The rest of the reception went on without a hitch. Immediately following Link’s grandiose display of shamelessness, I performed the long-awaited throwing of the bouquet. This time I remembered to take note of the catcher; it was none other than Impa’s granddaughter, Paya, whose complexion had taken on a shade similar to that of her Sheikah facial markings. After that, there were one or two more traditions that needed to be taken care of, such as the cutting of the cake. Link and I had to be given a ladder to stand on in order for us to even be able to reach the top tier. Even so, the amount of effort needed was befitting of the delectable prize waiting for me at the end. My lovely husband offered to feed me the fruits and berries off of his slice, and who would I have been to decline his generosity?

A short while later, I was out on the dance floor again. Compared to before, I was feeling a great deal more relaxed as I mingled with themany partygoers.

Then I heard the thunderous crack of an explosion. 

I looked out through the great hall’s lofty windows and witnessed the shimmering hues of fireworks painting the night sky. My plans for them had completely slipped my mind. By the time they’d begun, many people had already made their way outside. I scanned the room for Link and, upon spotting him, asked my current dance partner to excuse me and made my way over to him. Then he followed me to the balcony where we’d enjoy the show for as long as it would last, until the clock struck midnight and the celebration had to be drawn to a close.

The night had already progressed into the small hours of morning when my husband and I had made it back to our shared quarters. Our lavish ensembles were folded neatly away inside a box in our wardrobe, probably never to be worn again. I’d never revelled so much in the sensation of lying down on my bed and feeling all the tension in my body melt away. What a day it had been.

“I love you.” Link’s voice was low and warm as his fingertips combed delicately through the roots of my hair. 

“I love you too,” I smiled, idly tracing each of the scars littering his chest one by one. “Be honest. How long did it take you to write those vows?”

He donned a prideful grin, saying, “Made them up on the spot.”

“I said, ‘Be honest,’” I giggled, giving him a light shove.

“I am! It’s the truth!” And yet his ear-to-ear grin did little to back up his claim.

“Really?” I gave him an incredulous look, which he challenged with a raise of his brow. “Well, I, for one, wrote out draft after draft and spent hours of my precious time memorizing and rehearsing them.”

“I figured as much,” he chided into my neck. A chill raced through my blanketed body followed by another bubbly laugh. 

I rolled my eyes. “If you are telling the truth and you really did improvise that whole thing, then...I admit, I’m impressed.”

“Am I not brilliant?”

“Oh, yes,” I smiled, craning my neck to kiss his jawline. Then with a slight yawn as I laid my head back down on his shoulder, “Absolutely.”


	16. Like Birds of a Feather (T)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link, the owner of a small bakery in the middle of the big city, and Zelda, one of his most frequent customers, spend the holidays together.

It was nearly a quarter to eight, when the eastern horizon was just beginning to brighten with the rays of the early winter sun. The Patisserie on Lynel Avenue was decked with bows of holly from one end to the other, and sleigh bells were sounding from the stereo. The holiday season, one of my busiest times of the year, had arrived.

It had yet to start getting busy—only one or two customers had come and gone so far—but my employees and I were prepared for them to start flooding in as soon as the clock struck nine. I was behind the counter, getting the last of today’s freshly baked goodies behind the glass. I had nothing against Christmas time, of course. In truth, I loved the cheerful atmosphere it brought about, and I had a lot of happy childhood memories of it. But I had to admit that the sudden spike in demand that came with it had me at my wit’s end on occasion.

There was one aspect of my life acting as the oil that kept me running smoothly, however, aside from the rise in income. Since three or four months back, I wasn’t really sure how long ago, but there was one customer who’d been coming in more regularly than any other customer that I could remember. All I knew was that it was some time after we’d started serving coffee and tea and the like. I hadn’t taken much notice of her the first two or three times she’d stopped by. The times after that was when she’d started to grab my attention.

She was rather unassuming in appearance, not boasting too many features that stood out. She seemed like the academic type, judging from her cutely oversized glasses and the way she was always carrying some textbook or another under her arm. The thing that endeared me to her most of all, though, was her insatiable sweet tooth. Every time she dropped in, she’d order something different. And every time, as she took her first bite of whichever one of my treats she’d picked that morning, she’d get this look of complete and utter catharsis, like all of her worries were all at once melting away. To sum up, I was smitten. She seemed to be made up of all the right things one needed to win me over without even having held a full conversation with me.

It wasn’t just these things that drew me to her, however. Every time I looked into those viridian eyes of hers, I was overcome with a striking sense of déjà vu that I couldn’t for the life of me explain. I had no belief in such things whatsoever, nor did I consider myself a spiritual person by any means, but it was truly as though I’d known her in a past life, or something along those lines. I was certain I’d never heard the name ‘Zelda’ in my life before I’d taken her order for the first time. Yet when I looked at her face, I couldn’t help but feel like she was someone important to me. Even though my memory had the tendency to fail me at times, there was no way I could’ve forgotten someone who was seemingly so significant.

It was for these many reasons combined that I found myself so inextricably charmed by her, counting the days between each of her visits to the bakery. They were also the reason my heavy heart became weightless when I saw her smiling face come through the door that morning. She gave me a friendly wave as she walked up to the counter.

“What can I get you today, Ms. Zelda?” I joked. Her little laugh was music to my ears as she looked over the menu and what there was out on display. It turned out she could be rather indecisive about her order at times, which was something I could tell she was conscious of as she grew more and more fidgety the longer she stood there. “No rush.”

She nodded with a small and ashamed smile. “Thank you.” I decided to start counting up yesterday’s earnings while she was deciding. “Uhh... Okay. I think I’m ready.” I closed up the cash register. “I’ll take a tall peppermint mocha...”

“With whipped cream and extra chocolate, I’m assuming?”

“You probably knew what I was going to say before I did, didn’t you?” she huffed in false frustration. “And, well, the orange scones and the eggnog brownies both look delicious, so since I can’t decide, I’ll just have one of each.”

“You got it.”

Once she’d paid and had her order in her hands, I expected her to say a quick, “Thank you!” and walk away with it. Instead, when I handed over her drink, she stuck by the counter, looking as though she had something else on her mind. It wouldn’t be long before I’d find out what that was.

“So, Link...” I turned back around to face her. She must’ve read my name tag at some point. She was twirling a lock of golden hair between two dainty digits, glancing around the soon-to-be bustling café area. “Have you got any plans for Christmas? Anyone you’ll be spending it with?”

“Not really,” I shrugged. “I haven’t got family.”

The corners of her lips fell. “Oh. Are they out of town or something?”

I shook my head. “They all got into a bad accident about seven years ago. Both my parents and my sister.”

“Oh...” A look of deep, genuine sympathy found its way onto her face. “I’m sorry.” A short moment of silence passed between us. Then she broke it, saying, “Me neither, actually.” I looked up from the cash register. “My mother passed away when I was really young and then I lost my father as a teenager.” It was difficult to process what I was hearing. I’d never imagined she’d have that kind of story just based on our handful of previous interactions. 

“Hey, boss, want me to take over?” offered one of my few employees, pointing at the machine from beside me.

“Oh sure. Thanks.” He nodded, letting me step aside and out from behind the counter. When I met eyes with Zelda again, however, my mind drew a blank. “I’m sorry,” I laughed. “What were we just talking about?”

“It’s okay!” she reassured. “I was just going to say again, I’m so sorry about your family. That’s awful.”

I wasn’t really sure what the appropriate response would’ve been, so I simply said, “I’m sorry about yours.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you.” It quite frankly broke my heart just seeing her with anything but a smile on her face. “So what are you going to do for Christmas? Are you just staying home by yourself or...?”

“Pretty much.”

“Yeah, same here.” The silence returned for a short while as she took a cautious sip of her coffee until she quietly said, “Would...you maybe want to hang out? With me? On Christmas...?”

Her suggestion sent my thoughts into overdrive. The image of getting all cozy and warm by the fire with her in my arms and maybe even sharing a kiss or two under the mistletoe gave me a sudden rush of glee from head to toe. But then, maybe she didn’t have that exact scenario in mind. Maybe that was too much to ask.

“You’re not going to be working or anything, are you?” she asked, making me realize I was taking too long.

“Oh, no!” I cleared my throat in embarrassment. “That would be lovely. Were you thinking, like, one of us would go over to the other’s place for dinner or...would that be too soon...?”

Her face flushed as she stuttered out her answer. “That’s—I mean, I-I’d be happy to do that as long as it’s okay with you.” Then her shoulders shook with laughter as she added, “Let’s not go to mine, though. I have a flatmate who’s... Well, she’s a bit eccentric, as it were.”

“Mine it is, then,” I chuckled. “We could go out and do something else beforehand too, if you’d like.”

“That sounds perfect! Uh, where should we meet?” she pondered. “Oh! How about the park on Nayru Street? At...three o’clock?”

“I’d like that.”

~ • ~

When Christmas day arrived, it brought with it devastatingly low temperatures and a snowstorm overnight. So when I spotted her upon arriving at the park, I hadn’t expected her to come wearing nothing but a mini skirt, some sheer leggings, and a thin sweater with what looked like a button-up shirt underneath. Honestly I hadn’t really been expecting her to come at all. Nevertheless, there she was, waving at me from the opposite corner of the road.

“Hey, I’m so glad you came!” she chirped once I’d gotten within hearing range. Her pale pink, knitted hat with the pompom on the end, along with the pleats of her skirt, made her look like a cupcake. A shivering, frostbitten cupcake.

“Aren’t you cold?” I inquired.

“What? No! Not at all,” she scoffed, teeth chattering.

I stepped toward her and held out my hand without thinking, then stuffed it back in my pocket. What could I do? There was no chance she’d last more than an hour out in the icy December climate wearing that. I wanted to be a gentleman, but it wasn’t like I could give her my trousers to keep her warm.

“Link, don’t worry about it,” she insisted. “I’ll be f-fine.”

This didn’t do much to ease my concern for her, but I shrugged it off, trying my best not to worry.

A few hours went by remarkably quickly. After meeting up at three, we’d spent a little while in the park, sharing stories and learning more about each other’s lives. I told her about my experience with starting my own business, and she told me of her aspirations to become a groundbreaking tech engineer. Then the sun began its decent. While we went to grab hot drinks (which seemed to help warm her up temporarily), she had the idea of touring some high-end neighbourhoods to see all the lights and decorations. But by then, it had started snowing again, and she was shaking so much, it looked like her legs could’ve given out at any moment.

My heart lurched when I saw her stumble on the way up a particularly steep incline. I rushed to her side, even though she’d mostly managed to catch herself on her own. She was starting to look pale. “Okay, yeah, you’re definitely not fine. Let’s get you inside.”

“Yeah...” She nodded shakily, steadying herself on my arm. “Okay.”

The trip back to my flat lasted around half an hour, which was still longer than either of us would’ve preferred. The busses weren’t running due to the ice on the roads, so we had to go by train. At least now she was sheltered from the raging blizzard outside. The poor thing was shivering the whole way, albeit slightly less. I was doing all I could to protect her from the cold by rubbing up and down her arms, which she didn’t seem to mind, even leaning back into me a couple of times.

“I’m so sorry about tonight,” she frowned as she followed me through the front door once we’d arrived. “I honestly didn’t think it would be this cold, and I just wanted us to have a fun night out together. I didn’t mean to—“

“It’s okay, Zelda,” I hushed, turning on the fireplace and sitting her down in front of it. “We can still have fun here, can’t we? We can do whatever you want once we’ve eaten, your choice.”

Her frown turned into a shy smile. “Thank you,” she sniffled. 

I nodded, stripping off my snow-covered jacket and hanging it up. “Would you like something a bit more comfortable to wear maybe...?”

“No, that’s alright,” she dismissed, noticing the—one might say ‘minimalist’—tree I’d set up on the mantel next to the television. “Thanks, though. I just need a minute here to...regain my body heat, I think.”

“Well, if you need anything, just ask.”

And with that, I made my way to the kitchen to get started making dinner. Once she’d recovered for the most part and some colour had returned to her cheeks, she took it upon herself to help me with cooking. It wasn’t a very traditional Christmas dinner, but she enjoyed it, as did I. The highlight, however, was yet to come. After filling our stomachs and having a bit of light banter, we sat down on the sofa to watch some shabby Christmas films together by the fireplace.

“Hey, so...” She turned her attention to me when I paused the movie abruptly. “I heard somewhere that you like cake.”

She straightened up, eyes dilating like a cat who’d been offered a saucer of cream. “There’s cake?”

“There is indeed,” I laughed, rising to my feet. “Would you care for some?”

“Oh, would I ever.” She sprung up and followed me back to the kitchen, where I’d already put my seasonal masterpiece out on display. She gasped. My concoction consisted of two layers of black forest cake frosted with and separated by white buttercream. To top it off, I’d lined the circumference with black cherries and, as the centrepiece, created a miniature forest scene using artificial evergreen trees and some powdered sugar. “Link,” she gaped as I observed her awestruck reaction with pride. “I... You shouldn’t have.”

“But I did.” I was beaming from ear to ear as she took her eyes off the tantalizing treat to look back at me. Picking up the knife and positioning it at the edge of the cake, I tried to ask, “How much do you have room for?”

But then she cut me off with an alarmed, “Wait!”

I halted, leaving only a millimetre or two between the cake and the edge of the knife.

“I mean...” she stuttered. “Sorry. It just looks too perfect. You know?”

Eventually she came to terms with the fact that she quite literally couldn’t have her cake and eat it too. So once I’d served us both a slice, she pranced back to the living room with me just a few paces behind. As “A Charlie Brown Christmas” resumed on the screen, I watched her take her first bite out of the corner of my eye. “Wow,” she garbled around a mouthful of rich, chocolaty goodness before swallowing. “Link, you’ve truly outdone yourself.”

I blushed, the sounds from the TV fading into white noise in the background. “You can have my cherries if you want.”

A gleaming grin lit up her face. “Oh my god, really?” She scooted closer to me so that I’d be able to roll them off of my plate and onto hers with my fork. Any further and her thigh would’ve ended up right up against my own.

Once she’d cleaned off her plate, she set it down on the coffee table in front of us and relaxed into the back of the sofa, which nearly swallowed her up with how deep it was.

“Damn,” she smiled to herself, making me turn my head. “Now I feel bad for not getting you a gift or anything.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I put my plate down next to hers. “Just spending the day with you has been wonderful.” She looked at me with not a trace of dismay in her gaze, eyes warm and filled with nothing but contentment. “Honestly, I can’t think of anything that would’ve made me happier. Thank you for today.”

Her gaze landed in her lap, a dusting of pink settling on her cheeks. “I should be thanking you.”

I hadn’t noticed, but as time had passed from that point, she’d been gradually reclining in my direction. The moment our mutual acts of platonism fell apart was the moment her head made contact with my shoulder. I couldn’t help but give in and let my arm drape itself around her. An upward curve settled into the corners of her lips briefly before they drooped sleepily back down. I took a glance at the clock hanging by the kitchen—it was half ten already.

Zelda’s eyes were all but closed, lips parted just so, and some of her hair had scattered across her face. I tucked it back behind her ear, trailing my fingertips along her downy hairline in the process. They wanted to keep going down her face, once they’d reached her ear, to discover whether those lips were as soft and warm as they appeared. “Zelda?” I murmured her name, not wishing to disturb her in her peaceful disposition. She gave me a sort of hum in delirious acknowledgement. “C...can I...?”

She hummed again in almost the same way as before, perhaps not having realized what I was about to say. Then again, her cheeks did seem a slight bit rosier now. I leaned in, thumb coming to rest on her jawline. She tilted her head up, eyes fluttering the rest of the way closed. 

But I still hesitated. About to play out before my very eyes was the scene that had been running in the back of my mind ever since the first time I laid eyes on her. Ever since the first time I’d witnessed her indulging in one of my creations. Her lips and tongue would taste of sugar and strawberries if all my fantasies were to realize themselves. But what if they didn’t? Or even, what if they did? What would we be after today? This would change everything between me and her, and there would be no turning back.

Lazy fingers curled around the back of my neck, and before I could give it another thought, her lips and mine had met.

She did indeed taste sugary and sweet, as one would expect from someone whose last thing they’d eaten had been a slice of cake. Yet that wasn’t what stood out to me, made me melt into a useless puddle on the floor. It was the way she leaned her weight into me, trusting me to catch her with no questions asked. The way she made me drape my arms around her waist, wanting to feel as close to her as my corporeal being would allow. She was so warm and so soft. It had been an age since I’d known the feeling of home. Was this it?

I’d soon have my answer, as the moment her lips began to disappear from mine, I felt a sudden surge of homesickness swelling up in my chest. My heart pleaded for her not to leave, and she must’ve heard it, because no sooner than when I opened my eyes did she press her lips to my own again. 

It would be a while until I’d be able to tear myself away from her long enough to ask her the question I had burning on my tongue. “What would you think,” I muttered, “about...spending the night here?”

“That...” Her eyes squinted. “That doesn’t—” She was interrupted by a yawn, which she covered with one hand. My breath went still. “...sound so bad actually.” I exhaled in relief, seeing her droopy eyes filling up with warmth. “Is it too late to accept your offer from earlier? About comfier clothes?”

“Not at all.”


	17. Crimson & Magenta (E)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The princess accidentally discovers her knight’s ganonic secret when the two are out in the field beneath a blood moon.

The Zora princess, who had supposedly known him since childhood, had warned me about my appointed guard on a night gone by. “He’s not what you think,” she’d intimated. “Be careful.” But I never could’ve dreamt in a thousand lives what she had truly meant. 

Midnight was nearly upon Hyrule. While the rest of the kingdom slept, I was out in the field, accompanied by my stoic escort. I’d been planning this study for quite some time now, ever since a blood moon had been forecasted to appear on this very night. It had taken some persistence, but I’d eventually gotten my father to agree to it on the grounds that the data I would collect would help the cause against the Calamity.

We were at the top of a scouting tower nearby Lake Hylia, and I was craning my neck over the balcony in an attempt to see the sky beyond the roof. Link was standing a few feet away, providing me with lantern light to work by. After many failed attempts to get a good view of the moon, I gave up; my main subjects of observation were on the ground anyway. Said subjects were located at the remains of a small fort that had, until a month or so ago, been overrun with monsters of all sorts. The carcasses of these creatures, now all but completely evaporated save for their skeletons, were what I was most interested in. I had a theory, and the findings of this study would either prove or disprove it.

The sky became awash in deep red hues, throwing all that stood beneath it under its gruesome shadow. The moment of truth had arrived. Seeing through the Sheikah slate, I trained my sight on the bones scattered throughout the abandoned outpost.

The moment the clock struck midnight was when it happened.

An eerie, purple mist began to form all across the grounds. The mist was strangely active, more so than any ordinary fog simply being blown about in the wind. Soon it was so thick, I could no longer make out anything hidden within. 

Then I caught sight of movement through the corner of my vision. A claw, reaching out of the haze and into the light of the blood moon.

When the mist began to dissipate, I realized what it was that I’d just seen. The lifeless bones that once covered the scene had vanished, and in their place, a hoard of beasts had appeared. The very same creatures—hostile and hog-snouted—that had been struck down here on these very grounds, were once again stirring.

I had to take a moment to absorb the events I’d just witnessed. This was what I’d been theorizing about all along, of course, but seeing such things take place before my very eyes was shocking, to say the least. “Are you seeing this?” I breathed, thoroughly awestruck.

The flickering lantern light vanished, and the sound of glass shattering hit my ears. I jumped. 

“Link?”

It was dim, but the moon gave off just enough scarlet light for me to make out his crippled form kneeling on the floor, and the shattered shell of the lantern at his knees.

“Link! Oh gods...” I crouched down beside him and offered my hand. “Are you alright?”

He grabbed onto my wrist, hard. I lost my balance, collapsing onto the wood.

“Your Highness...” His voice was low and alarmingly fragile, coming out crackly and rough and close to inaudible. “I can...tell you anything, right?”

“Of course,” I smiled, despite the chilling atmosphere. “That’s what I said to you the other day, is it not?”

“I—mmh...” His face was angled down, eyes veiled behind his hair. But I could tell by the way he bit his lip that he was nervous beyond words.

“Hey, it’s alright. Really.”

His shuddering grip tightened around my wrist. “I’m...” he began, still too afraid to look me in the eye. “I-I’m not...one of your kind...” 

At first I thought I’d misheard him. “I’m sorry?”

Then he removed his glove from the hand that the lantern had once been suspended from. In place of a normal hand, however, there was a crumbling, purplish mass of skin and bones with half its fingers missing. He winced softly. I reached out toward what was left of his hand, but he was like a sand sculpture, and the slightest touch made it disintegrate even further. 

“I’m one of Lord Ganon’s creations...” he muttered, even softer.

Before the next few words left his lips, I realized his face was drained of all colour, and long, branching cracks were crawling up the skin of his neck and jawline. He looked up at me with eyes of striking amber that one could’ve sworn were giving off a faint glow.

“I’m a day keese.”

I’d never been at a greater loss for words than I was then. He wielded the sword that sealed the darkness, and yet he himself was the very darkness he was meant to destroy.

“I haven’t had Hylian blood in...over a decade,” he confessed.

I strained my mind in an effort to comprehend what I was seeing and hearing. If he hadn’t consumed the blood of a Hylian for as long as he had just claimed, that meant...

“Princess, I beg of you.” He sounded more desperate than ever, frail voice raised to the point where it cracked. “I only need a little.”

Who was to say blood moons had the same effect on day keese as they did on moblins and such once they’d met their fate? Additionally, the blood that flowed through my veins was far from ordinary. It was sacred. So surely he wouldn’t need more than a few swallows. Would he?

“Please...”

In any case, I was well acquainted with Hyrulian history, thanks to the endless amounts of tutoring I’d been put through over my sixteen-going-on-seventeen years of life. Legend stated that all those who wielded the Master Sword carried the soul of the hero chosen by Hylia, and that all who carried the soul of the chosen hero had a true and honourable heart. So with a nod of my head, I whispered three words that would potentially seal my fate. “I trust you.”

Haltingly, he pushed my sleeve up an inch or so and raised my wrist to his lips. He smiled disdainfully to himself. “You shouldn’t...”

I looked away, bracing myself for the pain. But it never came. His talon-like teeth sank into my skin like knives in halfway melted butter. I let out the breath I’d been holding in the form of a shuddering exhale. He was being so painfully careful, even on the verge of death, precisely yet shakily aligning his bite with the vein to ensure no tendons were torn.

With just his first swallow, he completely changed. The black and blue tendrils climbing up his complexion receded, and when I looked down, his hand was whole again like nothing had ever happened to it. He closed his eyes, taking another mouthful, followed by another, and another. “Link...” I sighed, not in objection, just mesmerization. It took me a while to realize he’d already taken way more than just a little.

The more of me that slid down his throat, the blurrier the world became. In the span of half a minute, the top of the tower had become a sweltering sauna, even though all sides of it were open to the cold night air. It must have been the stagnant way he was breathing, panting and gasping for air between each swallow. Either that, or it was the way he stared off into nothingness with an unquenchable thirst in his piercing gaze. His cheeks were stained rose red, and his half-lidded eyes conveyed an intense combination of lust and shame. My hand curled over his inflamed face on its own accord. It wrapped around the base of his neck, entangling itself in his hair and pulling him in closer to the flesh of my wrist. A garbled groan came out of his open mouth along with a stray drop of my blood that trickled hot down the length of my arm.

His fangs slid out of my tender skin as he went to catch the drip with his lips and tongue. I felt like I could boil over at any moment. Something about this whole situation was so unspeakably intimate. The air was so thick between the two of us, I could barely breathe. My collar was starting to strangle me, so I unbuttoned it, and he watched attentively as I did so, black slits widening across burning irises as they bore into the newly exposed surface of my neck.

He began to move in closer, deliberate in allowing me time to react. His delicate fingertips reached around and draped my hair behind my ear. “Is this alright with you?” he whispered, breath fanning against the sensitive skin of my neck and making me shiver. I nodded, letting my eyelids flutter closed. Gently and gracefully, his fangs buried themselves in my flesh once more. I had to force myself to breath normally, though there was hardly even a trace of pain or discomfort. The interior of his mouth was so soft and warm and wet. I could  feel  him swallowing again and again, and I began to wonder what it tasted like to him.

Having been so immersed in the feeling of him feeding from my neck, I hadn’t noticed him gradually leaning into me. A tiny gasp slipped out. I had to prop myself up on my elbows lest I would’ve fallen onto by back. He was straddling me now, one hand curled around my shoulder and the other planted on the floor, keeping him arched above me. 

He sighed ardently into my neck, retracting his teeth behind his upper lip. His tongue laved in a soothing manner over the wound he’d left. I felt naked. My thighs pressed together in an attempt to suppress the heat gathering between them. But Link took notice, when our legs brushed against one and other unexpectedly. He left my neck to look me in the eye. He was so close. A whimper jumped out of my open mouth. I closed it, feeling myself turn even redder than I already was.

His eyes travelled from my own down to my neck where he’d breached me, continuing along my defenceless form until they reached the region where my thighs met my hips. I couldn’t help but squirm a little under his unabashed scrutiny. Then he returned his focus to my face.

“Ahh,” he exhaled. “Oh, Princess...” His hand wandered down along my side, gliding seamlessly along the contours of my body. “You really want me that badly?”

“Mmh...” came my reply in the form of a meaningless moan.

He grinned warmly, looking happier than I’d ever seen him before. “What is it that you want, My Lady?”

I went to raise the hems of my top and blouse over my head, but then hesitation took hold. My own boldness had taken me by surprise. Of course, being a princess of Hyrule, I was never allowed to dabble in such debased frivolity. But was I really willing to just throw caution to the wind right here and now and give myself up to him completely? But then, the more I thought about it, the more sure of myself I became. When I looked at him, I realized, although the eyes into which I now gazed were corrupt and shrouded in mystery, they were far from being those of a reprobate. In fact, they held somewhat of a contradiction because instead of the malice they ought to have radiated, there was only mirth and sincerity. Besides that, I’d lost count of how many times I’d stayed awake at night thinking about him, before I’d learned of his secret.

“Princess...?”

I flashed a sheepish smile before tensely lifting away the layers of fabric covering my torso and letting my breasts fall out into the open. His eyes widened. “Bite me here...?” I requested, feeling those eyes of his roving over me.

His mouth hung open breathlessly. “Are you sure?” he whispered, gaze never straying from my chest. “I’ve taken more than enough blood already.”

I gave him a nod, finding speech to be an impossibility at that moment. Tentatively, he drew closer, until his body was barely hovering above mine. The tip of his nose grazed the gently fluttering valley of my chest. Then his nose was replaced by his lips, ghosting across my skin in search of the optimal region to lay waste to. I inhaled sharply when he reached my eastern peak. He came to a halt. Watching with baited breath, I anxiously awaited his next move.

He paid close heed to my reactions as his mouth opened and his fangs emerged, glinting in the moonlight. I clamped my eyes shut. But before he bit down, a different sensation came over me. It was his tongue. It dragged itself languidly against my blushing tit before giving it a light flick at the tip.

My throat clenched, stifling the whine that tried to worm its way out of me. I hardly had time to recover before he did the same thing again. Only this time, he didn’t stop. “Link!” I squeaked, then bit my tongue. I let myself fall flat onto my back. His slow lapping didn’t cease, even as his teeth began to sink into the delicate flesh just beyond. It was at that point when he began to suck. 

It was deplorable how easily overwhelmed I was at his mercy; it was to the extent that I’d lost nearly all control of my own body. My chest heaved up and down with each lecherous pant, thrusting up deeper into his mouth. Before I’d realized it, my hand was entangled in the roots of his hair. His ponytail had long been on the brink of unfurling. It finally fell apart at the whims of my fingertips, locks splaying out across broad shoulders as my nails raked down the back of his neck.

With a deep, throaty exhale, he removed his fangs and licked up the excess that almost trickled down my side. He sat up, hands coming to rest on my thighs. A drop of crimson ran down from a corner of his parted lips as he caught his breath, staring down at me in a daze. “H...how does it taste?” I wondered aloud.

A cryptic grin played on his visage as he raised a hand to smear away the drop, which had slid down to his chin. “Divine.”

The poorly hidden look of hunger in his eyes sent shivers down my spine, dissolving into a warm, aching feeling by the time it reached the apex of my thighs. He was just sitting there, looking down at me, and yet, he somehow affected me to the point where my legs began to shake beneath his touch.

It didn’t help when his hands trailed down the length of my thighs and past my knees, settling at the heel of one of my boots. “Shall I take them off for you, Princess?” he offered, dulcet tones oozing with esteem. I nodded, not fully processing the meaning behind his words. “These, as well?” he murmured. I gave a similar response, unable, and quite honestly unpressured, to tear my eyes away from him any time soon.

I finally snapped out of my stupor when I felt an intruding presence between my legs. It sent me reeling, taking me completely by surprise. Some time between now and when his lips had left my chest, he’d stripped me completely bare from the waist down.

My lower half squirmed when he brushed up against the stem of my forbidden fruit, setting a wavering mewl loose from the bottom of my lungs. He tested the waters with a few slow and soft strokes. I sighed out his name. His fingers felt nothing like my own. The sparks from the friction he created were manifoldly more intense. The way he worked at me with undivided attention was so precise and calculated that it gave me a slight suspicion that this was not his first time with a woman. That, or he was simply a master of it by nature.

He pressed into me just a little harder, sending another set of sparks flying. By now his movements had fallen into a devastating pattern of consecutive circles that took my breath away, though I‘d long been short of it already. He was making me feel so terribly good, I wanted to cry.

Before I’d had the chance to get entirely used to it, he abandoned my stem. From there, he slid two of his fingers down to my gaping cleft and slowly drove them in.

It was then that I started to second-guess my decision. In the silence of night, there was nothing to cover up the lewd smacking sounds of his digits ricocheting delicately between my walls. He caught my wandering gaze and, hearing just how drenched I was with his own ears, uttered a curse under his breath. He had me gushing into the palm of his hand, a river of impurity flowing down along my lips and onto the wood beneath me.

I couldn’t stand it anymore. I clammed up in humiliation and disgust, arms crossing over my face and thighs clamping together with his fingers still buried inside me. I was suddenly appalled at myself for allowing such immoral desires to control me. The wet filth between my legs did nothing to protect me from the cold breeze that blew through the tower, though the warmth and weight of his palm pressed into me was a slight comfort in its own way.

I felt Link’s free hand perch itself on my crossed arms, encouraging them away from my face. I melted under his tender ministrations, losing myself in his endless eyes. Before I’d noticed, I was watching him lick me off of his two sullied fingers. He did so as though the substance wasn’t the liquid sin that it was but rather the opposite. He kept his hand in one place, gradually working his way around each finger and not once taking his eyes off me, save for the couple of times he closed them in utterly unashamed indulgence. A wanton whimper creaked its way out of my throat. At this point, only the goddess of wisdom knew how much longer I could stay in denial.

Evidently, it wasn’t long. Because from the second I felt his fingertips at my entrance again, I was desperate.

After a while, he began to pick up his pace, his curled fingers rocking into me and making my urge to cry out just short of unbearable. I wanted so badly just to chase after his touch with my hips, but he had me trapped, sitting on my thighs while his free hand kept my wrists pinned above my head. 

He said nothing as he continued milking my insides for all I was worth, watching me with the expression of a dog’s doting chaperon. Just looking him in the eye proved near impossible, but when I kept them closed, it made the bracing sensations all the more overwhelming. In the end, I fell victim to my own pleasure, helpless against the pressure building up in my center. And the most disgraceful part of it all was that I welcomed it.

Out of nowhere, he stopped. I opened my eyes, chest heaving as the lingering chills began fading from my body.

I caved in around his fingers when I felt them slowly start to slip away. “No...” In that moment, I felt akin to an empty, glass bottle tumbling down a flight of stairs. “Why did you stop?”

But I found an answer to my question when I managed to raise my heavy head. As I directed my gaze down and ahead of me, it just so happened to land in his lap.

“Oh...”

He looked away without saying a word, a feathering of red beginning to spread across his face. I did the same. What was this paradoxical mix of emotions? Surprise, perhaps, but not shock. He, too, seemed conflicted, humbly avoiding my gaze, but making no attempt to cover himself.

I gathered up all the courage I could before breaking the silence. “Do you want to...umm...?”

His ears perked up, eyes meeting mine like he’d been patiently waiting for me to ask for an age. 

My chest swelled from the inside. Within seconds, any remaining trepidation was snuffed out. His excitement was infectious. Just what kinds of thoughts had plagued his mind until now? For how long had he been craving it?

His hands moved up toward his waist, and I closed my eyes. He was purposeful in giving me every opportunity to stop him, and yet, I couldn’t bring myself to. I was too far gone now to even consider it. I heard the clinking of a belt buckle and the rustling of fabric before feeling him prodding at my open slot. He took my hand and gave it a soft squeeze. “May I?” I nodded and held my breath.

I could feel myself dilate as he entered slowly and incrementally. I’d thought he’d stretched me out a fair amount earlier, but this was just so much more than I ever could have anticipated. He was so large and so hard. But of course, he was little more than average in size for all I knew. My breaths came and went as quick, ragged gasps, and I feared my death grip would leave bruises on him the following day. He was hardly even moving now. Daringly, I opened my eyes a sliver. If they were to be believed, it seemed he wasn’t even half of the way inside me. “Link...!” I half-whispered-half-hissed, trying frantically to make myself relax. 

After a while, more of his shaft began to disappear into me, and I shut my eyes again. A few breathless moments later, he hit a spot that made my whole body seize up. I cried out in anguish.

“I’m sorry,” he cringed, withdrawing immediately from where it hurt. “Are you alright?”

I replied with a strained, “Mhmm...” Even when he was still, the sheer volume of him was enough to make the hair on the nape of my neck stand on end. His thumb grazed idly over the back of my hand in steady, repetitive motions. My heart throbbed at his gentle gesture amidst the frenzied chaos of my nervous system.

I took a deep breath. This wasn’t so bad, I slowly realized as his eyes enveloped me in their warmth yet again. Eventually I must have come to enjoy the staggering fullness, because I found myself clenching around him without knowing. I only noticed what I’d been doing when he let out a sharp exhale, his blade hardening against my constrictions. His tone was dripping with barely restrained headiness when he began to ask, “Is it alright if I—?”

“Please...” I hadn’t thought twice before giving him my answer. He swallowed harshly, the deep ridge between his brows dithering, before glancing down toward the point where we connected, then back up at me.

The first thrust was smooth and shallow, his shaft backing out of me all the way to the tip and gliding in again without a hitch. The second was the same, slow and cautious, as was the third. By the fourth, I felt a glimmer of neediness beginning to accumulate in the depths of my heat. Although his pace was just beginning to rise, he still remained just as shallow as when he had begun. I managed to swallow down the whine building up in my throat, but lacked the same amount of discipline over my hips, which canted up to meet his next thrust of their own accord.

Link’s breath hitched. He paused briefly, a dangerous glint flickering in his eyes.

When he resumed, his movements were far deeper than before, but just as rapid and controlled. A sort of high-pitched sigh fled my lungs. My hips were forced to remain grounded, however, when he lifted my legs and bent them up toward my torso, leaving me utterly helpless against him. But this new angle—oh, Hylia—it was exquisite. My hands clamoured for something to latch onto, eventually finding his taut thighs. It was clear to see he was still holding back. Surely he was capable of a great deal more than what he was giving me. My mouth hung open as an endless stream of mewls and whimpers trickled out. And yet, I still wasn’t satisfied.

“Ah!” He halted abruptly. “Princess...!”

His whole being seemed to shake, a tense sigh on his breath, as he struggled not to move. His knuckles turned white, fists clamping around nothing with all his might.

Toppling forward, he whispered into my ear the words, “Forgive me...” before plunging his teeth into me.

He made it hurt this time. I cried out in a wild combination of pain and pleasure, tears forming at the corners of my eyes. His body sank into mine, and for a moment I swore I could feel his bare skin through his clothes. An impossibly prurient moan was muffled by the meat of my neck on its way out of him, followed by countless others of similar nature. His arms snaked around my waist and hoisted me skyward. Finally, he proceeded with his thrusts, only now he didn’t waste any effort in holding back. I bit back a scream, almost drawing more blood from my lip in the process. There was naught for me to do now but throw my arms and legs around him. He was going so hard and so fast, it felt like I was going to shatter. But witnessing him in such a state: starved and savage and craven with lust, was the most euphoric experience of all. 

Before either of us were prepared, it was already over.

At the very last second, his length slipped out of me. He gave a series of clipped gasps, sounding as if throttled, as his hot, silky release spattered all across my chest and stomach. To my astonishment, it hissed as it hit my skin, evaporating into the air like I was steel on a hot, sun-drenched day. It was never-ending. Just when it seemed to dwindle, another load would come pouring out, coating my exposed front until it all vanished in a cloud of steam.

My legs were limp and useless, unable to hold themselves up for a moment longer. I tried and failed to lower them slowly and softly to the floor, my lungs heaving. I felt his warm breath fade from my neck. Even as the pleasant tingles wore off, the dizziness that came with them persisted. The heat filling up my body had tapered to nothing, leaving a numbing chill in its place. I gave into the weight of my eyelids. 

“Highness?” Link’s voice was muted and distant, but I could hear the underlying urgency in his tone. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” I sighed. “But I’m so tired...”

The world seemed to swirl all around me. The floor began to feel less and less solid with each passing second. I let out a weary exhale. The last thing I heard was his voice calling out my name. 

~ • ~

I opened my eyes to a blur of brightness. For a few moments, all I could see were colours colliding with one and other. Blue, white, tan, then yellow. Then my knight’s face came into focus, peering down at me. His irises had returned to their former azure hues, and they were glassy with concern.

“Link...?” I rasped. My voice was beyond feeble. I hardly had the strength to even speak. All I could do was look around my quarters as I slowly overcame my fatigue. The drapes surrounding my bed were drawn, but only partially. The mattress had a dip where he‘d positioned himself beside me. His hair was tied back into his usual ponytail, and I was fully clothed again. I blinked. “Was...that all a dream...?”

He lowered his head with a sombre smile. “I’m afraid not, Your Highness.”

I dragged my arm up onto my lap and pushed up my sleeve. The two puncture wounds left by his bite, about an inch apart, were dark and clotted now. The skin surrounding them was pale, bordering on transparent, the purple of my veins stark against its surface. It was so cold. “What—” A cough cut me off. “What happened...?”

Link’s throat bobbed up and down. “I—” He stopped himself with a grimace, turning his shoulder to me. “I just...couldn’t control myself.”

The last thing I could recall was feeling the weight of his throbbing pillar lodged deep inside me, and the unforgettably warm and blissful look in his eyes. Whether I’d reached an orgasm or not in the end was beyond me. I felt a number of things as I recollected the pieces of the events that had supposedly led up to this point, but oddly enough, regret wasn’t among them.

It wasn’t hard to determine the cause of my apparent lapse in memory, given the state I was now in. I supposed neither of us had really been paying attention to how much blood I’d been losing in the heat of the moment. Still, the thought of him going to all that trouble during my darkest hour—dressing me, carrying me on horseback, bringing me to my bedroom, and staying by my side until I awoke—made my chest ache, in the most tender of ways.

“You should eat,” he urged softly, gesturing toward the dresser at my bedside. There sat a tray with bread, cheese, and apples, all sliced into stackable, bite-sized pieces.

I wanted the pillows and bedsheets to swallow me up at the thought of Link watching me eat. Nevertheless I knew I needed to, and I couldn’t be so thankless as to leave the food he’d so kindly brought me untouched. I sat upright, but had to lie down again when my head suddenly felt like a swirling hurricane. His hands reached out for me reflexively when I collapsed back into the pillow. I let out a groan. He winced, clearly in spite of himself, then took the tray and placed it on my lap.

“I’m sorry, Princess.” He was hunched over at the edge of the bed, cradling himself in his arms. “For everything. I’m so sorry...” The longer he sat, the more he caved in on himself, a dark cloud forming above his head.

I hastily swallowed the slice of apple in my mouth. “Why?”

His grip on himself loosened. He turned his head and shot me a look of cold disbelief.

“Why are you sorry for...’losing control?’” I pressed. “Why are you doing any of this?” He’d been on death’s doorstep. Why had he bothered to even ask my permission? If I’d been him in that moment, I’d have done whatever necessary to keep my life, if it weren’t for certain personal factors holding me back, of course. “You’re...” I hesitated, heart pounding hard and rattling my ribcage. “I mean, we’re not—”

“I don’t want us to be enemies,” he blurted, followed by a stuttered, “That—that’s not what I want.”

Enemies? Of course we weren’t enemies. That’s not what I’d meant to imply at all. Did it seem to him as though I thought of him that way? I shook my head, burying my emotions deep down before they could hinder my judgement any further. “Then what  do you want?”

He turned away again, as if in an effort to hide. “I don’t know...”

For some reason, my mind then flashed back to when we were locked in each other’s embrace. I shook away the memory. Now was absolutely not the time.

“I should go.” He rose to his feet, pushing the drapes aside. My heart lurched. 

“No, wait.”

It took all my strength to bend forward and catch him by the arm. My head was pounding. He looked at me, startled.

“Could you stay...?”

His eyes clouded over with impenetrable estrangement. “Why...?” he echoed.

I shrank back. “Because...” I had to scour my mind for a reason behind my outburst. “I’d feel safer if you were here. I know that seems ironic, but...” My gaze began wandering around the room. Truthfully I felt like I’d only made him more upset with my ceaseless questions, and I didn’t want us to have to part ways with such a bitter taste in our mouths. So, steeling myself, I looked him in the eyes and told him, “you’re still my appointed knight, are you not?”

He and I both turned our heads when soft birdsong filled our ears through a crack in one of the windows.

Though the kingdom was still standing well within the shadow of night, the scent of dawn already hung in the air. If I fell asleep right at that moment, I’d only have two or three more hours of rest until I’d need to arise once more. 

The turbulence in his eyes seemed to have faded, even if only a little. He breathed deeply through pursed lips, staring at me in a daze. I smiled. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment if you liked it!!


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